The Harry Situation
by Neuropsych
Summary: Complete! Teal'c's been reading popular fiction. God help us all. A Harry Potter crossover...
1. 01

The Harry Situation

**The Harry Situation**

_**Author's note**__: SO! This is just an off the wall story that has been rattling around in my head for a while now. It's not a Campers! story. It's just a story. A crossover (kind of) with the Harry Potter books. You don't have to have read the books or seen any of the movies to know what's going on, though. We'll see where it takes us… I might not complete it if it comes out sounding too odd…_

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own SG-1 or any Stargate stuff, and I don't own Harry Potter or any stuff from there, either, I just wanted to assure you all I'm not JK Rowling._

_That said; here we go! And I am going to ask for reviews on this, because… well… I need to see if it's going to even get off the ground._

OOOOOOOO

"Jack!"

Colonel Jack O'Neill turned at the sound of his name, and saw Daniel Jackson trotting down the hall towards him. Sighing, because he was pretty sure that whatever it was Daniel wanted, it wasn't going to be something Jack wanted to do, he stopped, and waited for him to catch up.

"What is it, Daniel? I'm kind of in a hurry."

He wasn't really in a hurry. He just wanted an out in case he was right and Daniel wanted him to do something he didn't want to do.

"Have you seen Teal'c?"

"Yeah. He's the big, black guy. Bald head, gold seal thing on his forehead."

Daniel stared at him for a minute.

"I mean, recently."

Thinking back, Jack shrugged.

"Yesterday. He was talking to Carter."

"And you haven't seen him since?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I can't find him."

"Well, go ask Carter what she did to him."

"She's not here. She checked out to go run some errands."

Jack sighed.

"Did you check his rooms?"

"Yes."

"The commissary?"

"Yes."

"Daniel, just go find him. Why are you asking me?"

"I was hoping you might know if he was going to go somewhere or something."

"Has he checked out of the base?"

"No."

"Then he's got to be somewhere. It's not like there's much that can hurt him here. Go find him. I've got to get to… my… appointment."

"What appointment?"

"The thing I'm doing."

"What thing?"

Jack scowled.

"The _thing_."

He turned and left, before Daniel could ask him more questions.

Daniel watched him go, and then sighed, and headed towards the infirmary. It was one of the few places he hadn't checked.

OOOOOOOOO

An hour later, there was a knock on Jack's office door, and he looked up from the paperwork he wasn't doing.

"Yeah?"

The door opened, and Daniel stuck his head into the office, looking around.

Jack scowled.

"I'm not hiding him under my desk, Daniel."

"Who?"

"Teal'c."

"Oh. Yeah. I mean, no. Of course, you're not. I found him."

"Yeah? Where was he?"

Jack had a feeling he really didn't want to know, but he had to ask.

"In the base library."

That wasn't all that uncommon. Teal'c was frequently in the base library, trying to read up on the people he found himself allied with.

"Good. Mystery solved, then."

Daniel's expression was telling Jack otherwise, however, and he frowned.

"What? Why are you looking like that?"

"We have a problem."

"What problem?"

"Teal'c wants us to take a trip with him."

"To Chulak?"

"No."

"To some obscure planet I've never heard of?"

"No."

"The mall?"

"No."

"McDonald's?"

"No."

Jack scowled, tired of playing the guessing game.

"Where, then?"

"London."

"_London_? What on Earth does he want to go to London for?"

Daniel hesitated.

"He wants us to take him to some place called Diagon Alley."

"What? Where's that?"

Daniel shrugged.

"Apparently it's in _London_."

"Have you been there?"

"No."

"Has Teal'c?"

"No. He says he read about it."

"I'm _not_ going to London, Daniel. It's noisy there, and filled with British people."

"That's not the worst of it, Jack," Daniel said. "Ask me why Teal'c wants to go there."

"What? Why?"

"He says it's the only place to buy a magic wand."


	2. 02

_Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, you guys. Just be patient, I'm having some family issues that are taking the majority of my spare time right now. Thanks for the reviews, though!_

OOOOOOO

Jack stared at Daniel for a full thirty seconds before looking down at his watch, and then over at the calendar on the wall.

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked.

"Checking to see if _April Fool's_ day has somehow managed to sneak up on me while I wasn't looking."

"That was last week, Jack." Daniel frowned. "Would I joke about something like that?"

"You must be, Daniel," Jack told him. "But I can't for the life of me figure out the punch line."

"I know how you feel, but I'm _telling_ you; he wants to go to London to find some place called Diagon Alley, where he's going to set about buying a wand…"

"He _told_ you that?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him there aren't any magic wands?"

Daniel shrugged, looking frustrated, "I _tried_. You try; maybe he'll listen to you. He won't listen to me."

Jack looked at the calendar once more, just to double check that it wasn't his birthday and Daniel wasn't leading him into some kind of surprise birthday party, and then with a sigh that was mixed annoyance and disbelief, he stood up and headed for the door. It wasn't like he was really doing his paperwork, anyways.

"He's in the library?"

"Yes."

Daniel fell into step beside him as they walked through the corridors of the SGC to a room that Teal'c frequented often, but Daniel and Jack rarely did. Daniel because if he needed to research something, he'd use the Internet on the computer in his office, and Jack, because… well, because. He liked to hang out with Daniel and Carter, soaking up their brilliance by osmosis. It just was a longer process than he'd figured it would be, that was all.

OOOOOOO

Teal'c was sitting in an overly padded easy chair, one brought into the room at his request, with a book in his hand. He was so into the book that he didn't even look up when Jack and Daniel entered the room, although both men were certain he was aware of their presence.

"Whatcha doing, Teal'c?"

"I am reading, O'Neill."

Daniel gave Jack a look that plainly told him if he asked a dumb question he was bound to get a dumb answer. Jack scowled.

"What are you reading?"

"It is a book, O'Neill."

Jack rolled his eyes, and then scowled at Daniel's grin.

"So… _Daniel_ tells me you want to go to London…"

Now he'd find out if Daniel had just been screwing with him or not.

Teal'c looked up from the book.

"Indeed. I wish to learn more about the hidden society of witches and wizards, and wish to purchase a magic wand of my own."

"The _hidden society of witches and wizards_?"

"Yes."

Jack scratched the side of his neck, wondering what the hell Teal'c was talking about.

"There _isn't_ a secret society of witches and wizards, Teal'c."

"There is, O'Neill," Teal'c said, handing the book in his hand over to Jack. "I have been reading all about it the last few days."

Jack looked down at the book in his hand.

"_Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_…?"

"What's this?"

"It is the History of a young human boy who, like yourself, does not know of the magical world hidden from him, until he finds out he is accepted to a school for young witches and wizards – like himself."

Jack frowned, turning the book over and reading the back.

"Teal'c, this isn't _real_. It's just a book. A _story_."

"That is what Daniel Jackson said as well. I find the notion to be intriguing, however."

"There's no such thing as magic," Daniel said, trying again, now that he had back up.

"That is what they wish for you Muggles to believe."

Jack looked up from the book.

"What did you call him?"

"A _Muggle_," Teal'c answered. "It is the term the wizards and witches use to refer to anyone who is non magical."

"And it tells you that in this book?"

"No. It told me in the _first_ installment of the History. This one is the _second_."

"There's more than one?"

"There are several."

"Teal'c, it's _fantasy_. It's not real."

"It's just a story meant to entertain," Daniel added.

"How do you know this, O'Neill?"

Jack spread his hands.

"_Everyone_ knows it. There's no magic."

"Because the wizards have managed to hide their secret world."

"Teal'c… we're in the _Air Force_. The Military of the greatest country on the face of the planet. We have all kinds of secrets that no one would ever believe, and we've personally been places that no one would ever imagine. Don't you think if there was a secret wizarding world, we'd _know_ about it?"

"Major Carter knows about it," Teal'c said. "The rest of you do not because it is a closely guarded secret – to keep the Muggles from asking the wizards to do everything for them."

"Carter told you about this?" Jack asked, holding up the book.

"Indeed. It was she who suggested I read the History."

Jack scowled, looking down at the book.

"Then Daniel and I need to go have a little talk with Major Carter…"


	3. 03

Jack left Teal'c in the library – although he was tempted to take the book away from him – and headed for Carter's lab.

"She's not going to be there, Jack," Daniel told him, walking beside him. "She's off-base running errands, remember?"

O'Neill scowled.

"Call her, then, and find out where she is."

He wasn't in the mood to hang out at the SGC and wait for her. Besides, if they waited any longer, Teal'c would probably start believing that rugs and brooms could fly, too, and then he'd be wanting one of those as well.

Daniel pulled out his cell phone and dialed up Sam's number. A minute later, though, he looked over at Jack and shook his head.

"She's not answering."

Which was probably just as well, right?

"Then we'll have to wa-"

They turned the corner and literally ran into Carter, who had just reached the intersection of the two corridors, and was engrossed in the article she was reading, her mind not on where she was going.

Sam would have tumbled to the floor if not for Jack's quick reflexes. He grabbed her arm, steadying her as Daniel reached down and picked up the magazine she'd dropped.

"Thanks, Daniel."

"Just the person I was looking for," Jack said, before Daniel could say anything.

Sam looked at Jack.

"You were?"

"Are _you_ out of your _mind_?"

She frowned, confused.

"Sir?"

"Did you know that Teal'c wants to go to London?"

"London?"

"England," Jack confirmed.

"He does?"

"And it's all your fault, so you need to go fix it."

"What? What's my fault?"

"He wants to go to London," Jack said, blandly. "So he can buy a magic wand."

"What?"

"Um…" Daniel knew Jack was just confusing Sam – nothing new there, although usually it was the other way around. "He's been reading a couple of books that apparently you suggested to him…"

"Something about wizards and witches," Jack said, scowling. "And now he's calling Daniel a mud puddle."

"A _muggle_, Jack," Daniel corrected.

"Whatever."

"He's doing what?" Sam asked, frowning again.

"He wants to go to London, and find some place called Diagon alley," Daniel said. "So he can buy a magic wand."

"But it's just a story…"

"You'd better tell him that," Jack said. "The sooner the better."

She nodded.

"I'll go find him when I'm done with-"

"Now, Carter."

"Yes, sir."

"He's in the library," Daniel said, helpfully.

"Thanks."

Sam turned and headed back the way Daniel and Jack had come from, and the two men followed her, falling into step beside her.

"I know where the library is," she told them.

Daniel nodded.

"I just can't wait to hear this conversation."

Sam scowled.

OOOOOOOO

"There he is," Jack said, gesturing towards the Jaffa. Like Sam needed his help to find him? It wasn't like the room was packed, or anything, and Teal'c tended to stand out in a crowd. "Fix it."

"Yes, sir."

She walked over to Teal'c, and he looked up at her approach.

"Hello, Major Carter."

"Hi, Teal'c." She gave him an uncomfortable smile, looking over her shoulder at O'Neill and Daniel, before looking back at the Jaffa. "I see you've been reading the books I gave you."

"Indeed. They are quite interesting. Thank you for entrusting this knowledge with me."

She fidgeted a little.

"Um… you're welcome. But you do know that they're just stories, right? They're not real…"

Teal'c looked over Sam's shoulder at Jack and Daniel.

"I understand your concerns, Major Carter…"

"You do?" She gave a relieved sigh. "Good… I was worried that-"

"O'Neill and Daniel Jackson are members of your team, however," Teal'c said. "You should not be concerned about sharing this information with them. They are men of integrity as I am certain you know. They would not share the secret with the rest of the world."

Daniel suppressed the desire to groan, and he saw Jack look heavenward, as if asking for patience, and Sam cleared her throat, giving Teal'c a slight smile.

"No, Teal'c. It's not like that… I know they can keep a secret. But this… magical world… it's just a story. For entertainment."

Teal'c nodded.

"On Chulak we frequently use entertaining stories to teach – much like the parables in your Bible… it is an efficient means to help instruct the young. And those not so young."

Sam was floundering, and she knew it. She turned to O'Neill, looking for help, but he didn't have anything to say that could possibly help her.

"I wish to travel to London," Teal'c told her. "To find this hidden society – and perhaps find out more about them."

"But-"

"And perhaps even meet this Harry Potter child."

Teal'c held up the book in his hand, pointing to the illustration on the cover.

Sam had never wished more for the Goa'uld to make a surprise attack on the SGC than she did just then.


	4. 04

After a full thirty seconds of silence – during which the Goa'uld refused to launch a surprise attack on the SGC – Sam sighed. It was like talking to a stone wall, and she was pretty sure no matter what she said, he wasn't going to believe her. She looked at Daniel, silently pleading for help, but the archeologist didn't know what to say anymore than she did.

Jack scowled.

"It's a _book_, Teal'c."

"But one you have not yet read, O'Neill…" Teal'c said, making it almost a question.

"Well… no…"

"Then you have little or no understanding of the secret society of wizards and witches – or what they must go through to hide their presence from the Muggles."

"Wait a minute," Daniel said. "If the wizards in the book hide from Muggles, what makes you think you can go to London and look for them? You're not magical."

Sam groaned. Daniel had just put a hypothetical on the situation and had dashed any and all hope that she might be able to convince Teal'c that he was reading a simple story and not a History.

"I am not human," Teal'c said, confidently. "The wizards will be able to tell that and will know I want nothing more from them than knowledge of their culture."

"It's not _real_, Teal'c," Jack said, again, looking about ready to pull his hair out – or throttle Teal'c.

Teal'c didn't look at all concerned. In fact, he looked as if he were enjoying the debate.

"Perhaps if you were to accompany me to London, you would be allowed to meet the wizards as well, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "The History says that the place they all meet is called The Leaky Cauldron – perhaps they will admit you and allow you to stay for a short time."

"I. Am. Not. Going. To. London," Jack said, and now Sam could see a little vein in his forehead that looked ready to explode. "It's not real…" He looked at Carter, and scowled, because she was looking amused. "You'd better fix this, Carter."

Sam's smile at O'Neill's annoyance faded immediately.

"I've tried, sir. I don't know what else to tell him…"

"Have him talk to Hammond – or better yet, find this writer and make him talk to Teal'c and tell him it's all made up."

"Her."

"What?"

"J.K. Rowling is a woman, sir."

"Well, call her and fix it," Jack said. "And I mean it."

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the library, muttering under his breath. Daniel gave her a sympathetic look, but he was too glad that it wasn't him in her situation to stick around. He left the room right behind Jack.

"O'Neill seems most upset," Teal'c observed, quietly. "Perhaps you should have told him about this secret society long ago, Major Carter."

Sam sighed, giving up for the moment, at least.

"I guess so."

She left as well, carefully going in the opposite direction as Jack, and heading for the infirmary. Janet might have some idea of what to say to get through to Teal'c. Sam hoped so, anyways, because she was fresh out of arguments.

OOOOOOOOOO

"He _what_?"

Sam scowled.

"If you keep giggling like that I'm going to stab you with one of your needles…"

Janet wiped tears of mirth from her eyes, and tried to suppress her smile, knowing that Sam wasn't nearly as amused as she was.

"I'm sorry, Sam… but why didn't you tell him when you gave him the books that they were just for fun?"

"I didn't think I _needed_ to, Janet. He's a grownup. Would you tell _Cassie_ it isn't real?"

"Cassie would have asked – Teal'c is the kind that would jump to conclusions. You should have known that."

Sam sighed, and dropped into the chair beside Janet's desk.

"What am I going to do?"

"Tell him it's just a book."

"I tried. I tried, Colonel O'Neill tried, and Daniel tried. He just thinks we're all part of the conspiracy to keep it all quiet."

"Have him try to make a broomstick fly…" Janet said, "When it doesn't work, that'll stop the magic talk."

"He'll just say it's not working because he's not magical…"

Janet smiled again, unable to help herself. She wouldn't have been surprised if it had been Daniel who'd gotten himself into this kind of situation – Daniel always jumped into things without thinking them through first – but Sam was usually more careful.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Colonel O'Neill says for me to call J.K. Rowling and make her tell Teal'c it isn't real…"

"That's probably not going to happen…"

"I know…"

Sam put her chin on the palm of her hand, thinking hard… unfortunately, nothing was coming to mind – which was really saying something considering that she'd come up with ideas to save the world and the universe several times over.

"Hold on, Sam…" Janet said, brightening. "I might have an idea."

As the astrophysicist watched, Fraiser turned her attention to her computer for a minute, tapping furiously at the keys with a slight smile on her face. A moment later, she grinned, and turned the monitor for Sam to see.

"_There's_ your solution. Seattle, Washington, this Saturday and Sunday."

"A Harry Potter convention…?" Sam asked, dubiously. "I don't know…"

Janet shrugged.

"It's either that or go to London…"

Sam frowned.

"I'll ask the Colonel…"


	5. 05

"Are you _nuts_?"

Sam sighed and tried not to let her feelings be hurt. She had, after all, been pretty sure that O'Neill's reaction was going to be something like that, but it was all she had.

"It's not that bad of an idea, Jack," Daniel said, earning him a grateful look from Sam.

"It's a Harry Potter convention, Daniel," Jack told him, scowling. "How can it be anything but a bad idea?"

"It'll prove to Teal'c that it's not some secret society," Daniel pointed out. "If everyone there knows about this Harry Potter kid, then it's obviously not a big secret. Sam says it's pretty popular."

"Fine. Have fun."

Sam hesitated.

"Um… sir…"

"Don't you think you should come?" Daniel asked.

"I think the two of you can keep Teal'c out of trouble just fine without me, don't you?"

"General Hammond would probably prefer that you come with us," Daniel insisted, hoping to appeal to Jack's sense of duty and responsibility. "Don't you think?"

Jack scowled.

"Where dud you say this was? Seattle?"

Sam nodded.

"That settles it, then," he told her.

"You'll come?"

"No. I hate Seattle. It rains 340 days out of the year there. Have fun."

He turned and headed for the door of his office, and then realized it was _his_ office and he didn't have to leave. He went back to his desk and sat down, ignoring their looks.

"I'd pack an umbrella."

"Jack…"

"Daniel. I'm not going. There's absolutely nothing you can say to get me to come to Seattle with you. Now get out of my office."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking… We'll be landing in Seattle in about twenty minutes. The temperature on the ground is 52 degrees with a heavy rain falling… so I hope you brought umbrellas…"_

There was an undertone of chuckles from the people around them on the plane, but Colonel Jack O'Neill only scowled, and looked out at the clouds they were passing through. Rain was pounding against the window he was sitting next to, and the day was about as dark as the looks he kept flashing towards Carter, who had prudently taken the seat next to Daniel on the other side of the aisle from where Jack was sitting next to Teal'c.

"The weather is not conducive to a vacation spent outdoors, O'Neill…" Teal'c said, looking over Jack's shoulder out the window as well. The Jaffa had finished with the second book in the series that Carter had given him and had spent the flight from Colorado reading the third book, which Jack had noticed had a flying something or the other on the cover with some kid riding it.

"Yeah, well… no one ever vacations in Seattle, Teal'c. And never outside."

"Then why would General Hammond suggest such a location for us to spend our down time?"

Jack looked over his shoulder back at Teal'c.

"No one told you why we were coming?"

"No."

"Son of a… _Carter_!"

The blonde head on the other side of the aisle turned towards him – as did everyone else on the plane. Jack scowled, knowing that this was not the time or place to gripe about it, but he couldn't _wait_ to get off the plane, now. Sort of.

"Is something wrong, O'Neill?"

"No…" He knew he didn't sound very convincing, though. "Everything's fine."

Teal'c shrugged, and went back to reading his book, while Jack sat staring out the window, the scowl on his face giving Sam silent warning that he was going to have a few words to say to her when they finally landed.

OOOOOOOOOO

He managed to hold his silence as the plane landed. He was even quiet as they claimed what little luggage they'd brought with them from the baggage area – they were only going to be in Seattle for the weekend, after all, and didn't need all that much luggage. There was a shuttle van waiting to take them to their hotel, and Sam took the front seat before Jack could get her alone in the back, so he wasn't able to bring it up in conversation then – like he could have with Teal'c right there, anyways.

Finally, though, as they crossed the lobby of the hotel heading for the main desk, Jack managed to fall into step beside Sam as Daniel and Teal'c trailed slightly behind, Daniel to browse through the hotel's gift shop windows, and Teal'c because he'd seen something that had interested him.

"You didn't even tell him why we were _coming_?"

Sam shook her head.

"General Hammond told me not to. He thought Teal'c might refuse to come if he thought we were setting him up for something."

"_I_ tried to refuse to come, but it didn't do _me_ any good," Jack pointed out.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Of course, Daniel had been the one to approach Hammond with Sam's idea, not Sam, so it was Daniel who was really to blame for suggesting that things might go smoother if Jack were there at the convention with them. Hammond had agreed, and had told Jack, who had still tried to figure out a way to get out of it – but to no avail.

Jack waved off the apology, looking around. He'd expected some kind of signs proclaiming loudly that yes, this was where the Harry Potter convention was going to be held the next morning, but aside from a few more young people than he was used to seeing in a crowd on a Friday there wasn't any sign that the place would be bustling the next morning.

"So what am I supposed to be doing to help, here…?" Jack asked, hoping that whatever he was supposed to be doing could be done quickly. Preferably before he rusted.

"I think that-"

"O'Neill…"

The deep gravelly voice stopped Carter's reply instantly, and they both turned to Teal'c, who had a small boy standing beside him. Jack frowned and Sam groaned at the same moment. The boy was about eight, and was wearing a long black cloak, a pair of dark rimmed glasses and a huge smile. Neatly drawn on his forehead was a small scar, shaped liked lightening,

"Who did you find there, Murray?" Jack asked, wondering if the little boy was lost or something.

"It is Harry Potter, O'Neill."


	6. 06

_Author's Note: Okay, guys. They're not in the airport now; they're in the hotel lobby. I swooshed them out of the airport fairly quickly, so it's no surprise some of you missed it._

_Sorry I'm not updating so quickly with this one. I probably shouldn't have started it with two other stories already going. Let me know if you'd rather I held off finishing this until I'm done with the others so you don't get such erratic updates…_

OOOOOOOOO

"Who's Harry Potter?" Jack asked, his frown deepening.

"It's the main character in those books I gave Teal'c, sir, remember?" Sam said, looking down at the little boy and then around the lobby, wondering who was missing their child. Someone had to be frantic.

"This is Harry Potter, O'Neill," Teal'c said, placing his hand on the little boy's shoulder. "He looks just as the illustrations on the cover of the History shows him."

Sam leaned down in front of the boy.

"Where are your parents?"

He shrugged.

"Are they in the hotel?"

The boy shrugged again.

Jack scowled down at the kid, and poked him with his finger.

"Harry Potter, huh?"

The boy nodded, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose with a finger, and smiling, obviously not at all concerned about being poked.

"Sir… his parents must be looking for him…"

"Yeah, I know, Carter." Jack looked at Teal'c. "Where did you find… _Mr. Potter_… here?"

"He was standing right by the door, O'Neill… you walked right past him and did not even notice."

Yeah, big shock there, Jack thought sourly.

"So you just grabbed him as you went by?"

Teal'c shook his head.

"I introduced myself, and asked him if he was truly the Harry Potter from the Histories…"

"And he said yes…?"

"Not exactly…" Teal'c admitted. "But he looks exactly as described in the secret Histories…"

"What's this?" Daniel asked, walking over and looking down at the boy.

"Daniel…" Jack said, feeling as if he was never going to be able to leave Seattle. "Meet Harry Potter…"

The archeologist frowned.

"Harry Potter? Where'd he come from?"

"He is from London," Teal'c answered. "Where he lives with his uncle Vernon and his-"

"Teal'c."

This time it was Sam who interrupted. She knelt in front of the boy to get on eye level with him.

"What's your name?"

"Harry."

Jack groaned.

"What's your _real_ name?"

"Harry."

"O'Neill…"

"Teal- Murray. Let me handle this, eh?"

The Jaffa shrugged, and watched as Jack knelt down next to Carter.

"Where are your parents, Harry?"

He shrugged.

"They've got to be worried about you," Sam said. "Are you staying here in the hotel?"

"His parents are dead, Major Carter," Teal'c said, helpfully.

The little boy looked up at Teal'c, who looked down at him with what was his best smile, which was more of a grimace to the boy, who didn't know his facial expressions all that well. He burst into tears.

Jack stood up immediately, leaving the crying kid to Sam, who looked mystified.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" She asked, trying to calm him without touching him in case his folks actually happened by and thought he was being kidnapped or something. If they didn't _already_ think that.

"I want my mom…"

It wasn't all that easy to understand what he was saying through his tears – and with snot running out of his nose – but Sam nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. And hers was far more reassuring than Teal'c's.

"Your mother was killed by Lord Voldemort," Teal'c reminded the boy, who started crying harder.

"Teal'-Murray," Daniel said, quickly. "Why don't we let Sam handle this?"

"It is in the History, Daniel Jackson…"

"Yeah…"

Sam ignored the two of them, and put her hand on the little boy's cheek, drawing his attention to her instead of the Jaffa.

"Where did you see your mom last, sweetheart? In the hotel?"

He sniffed, and hesitated, as if thinking it over. Then he nodded.

"What's her name?"

"Mom."

"What does your dad call her?" Jack asked.

"Kelly."

He ran his hand along his face, smearing snot and tears across his cheeks, and Sam looked for a tissue in her pocket, knowing she didn't have one. Daniel did, though, and the master of the allergies handed it to her without a word.

"What do your friends call your mom?" Jack asked, taking control of the questioning.

"Why are you asking him-"

"Daniel, hush." Jack looked back at the boy, waiting for an answer.

"Mrs. Lire."

"So your mom's name is Kelly Lire…?"

The boy hesitated and then nodded, his mournful eyes looking at Jack as if hoping he would be able to pull her magically out of his hat or something. He had already figured out her name, after all.

O'Neill turned to Sam.

"Carter, go get someone to page her and see if anyone comes. If not, we'll hand him over to the hotel staff. They'll know what to do."

Sam nodded and walked over to the front desk, but they had already drawn the attention of several of the staff members. One of them walked over and stood beside where O'Neill was once more kneeling in front of the boy.

"Not _another_ lost one…" he said, shaking his head.

"You get this a lot?" Daniel asked.

"He's the third one _today_," the man said, as they heard the page for Kelly Lire go up over the hotel speakers, which normally just played Muzak. "And they're all the same. We ask the parent to describe them, and they say dark hair wearing glasses and a scar on their forehead. How are we supposed to find one kid who's dressed up like every other kid…?"

"And it's just going to get worse tomorrow," another employee said as he came over as well. "Last year was a disaster."

"What are you referring to?" Teal'c asked, curiously, unsure what the men were talking about – although O'Neill and Daniel were both looking sympathetic.

"Oh, it's awful," the man said. The Harry Po-"

"_Harry_!"

They all turned and saw a young woman running towards them, a toddler in her arms and a relieved expression on her harried face.

"Thank God! What have I told you about wandering away from the room?"

Belying the anger in her tone as she scolded him, she moved the toddler over to one arm and wrapped the little boy up in her other, hugging him close. "You could have been hurt!"

"I was fine, mom," the weepy boy mumbled into her shirt, looking over at Teal'c. "But _he_ said you were dead…"


	7. 07

Mystified, the woman looked up at Teal'c, who didn't even flinch – although he _was_ looking rather confused. Daniel stepped in quickly, because Sam was frozen to the spot, and Jack didn't look like he had any intention of dealing with anything just then. Not with the scowl on his face.

"It's just a misunderstanding, ma'am," Daniel said to the woman, moving between her and Teal'c before Teal'c could ask her how she could be alive. He was thinking that maybe he should have actually read the books, now, because he didn't have a clue what Teal'c had been talking about when he'd mentioned Lord Voldemort, or the kid's parents being killed. "We're just glad your son's safe."

She turned her attention back to the little boy, who was calming down now that he was reunited with his mother, and Sam finally shook herself out of her hesitation and grabbed Teal'c by the arm, picking up her bag with the other hand.

"Come on, Murray, let's go find our rooms…"

Teal'c reached for his own bag, and glanced once more at the boy and his mother before allowing himself to be hauled away by Carter.

Jack watched them head down the hall to the elevator, and then looked down at the woman once more.

"He's from out of town…"

She frowned; not quite ready to be friends, but grateful that someone had found her son – and it hadn't been some kind of crazy kidnapper. At least she didn't think they were.

"We are, too."

"He's from _further_ out of town…"

"Come on, Jack," Daniel said. "We'd better catch up to them."

More than willing to end the conversation, O'Neill nodded and moved off while Daniel gave the woman and her son an awkward smile and followed.

"This is stupid," Jack grumbled the moment they were out of earshot of the lobby. "I can't _believe_ I let anyone talk me into coming here…"

"As I recall, you were _ordered_ to come."

Jack scowled, and they stopped at the elevator to wait for it. Daniel shrugged.

"Look on the bright side, Jack."

"What bright side would that be, Daniel?"

"You get a free vacation…"

"Lucky me."

"Don't worry. Sam will get Teal'c straightened out. He's stubborn, but once he sees that so many people know about this Harry Potter thing, he'll realize it's just pretend and that no one really believes in it."

Just then the elevator door swooshed open, and a group of children tumbled out, screaming and yelling and laughing. All of them were wearing black cloaks with varying colored scarves – although the majority of them were gold and scarlet – and three of them were holding broomsticks in their hands. Following the children were a small handful of adults, all looking as though they were worn out – although it was still rather early in the day.

Jack looked at Daniel, who watched as the children ran off shouting something about something called Quidditch, and then Daniel looked back at him as the door to the elevator closed, completely ignored by both men.

"They're probably going to go clean something…"

"Of course they are," Jack said sarcastically, hitting the button and hoping the elevator door would open again. Which it did. "We all know broomsticks don't fly, after all. Don't we?"

OOOOOOOOOO

"I do not understand…"

Sam sighed and set her bag on the right hand bed of the room. Because of the convention and the fact that they'd reserved their rooms at the last minute, they'd only managed to get two rooms, side by side, double occupancy. Which meant two beds, at least. They'd been lucky to get that. She was going to share a room with Teal'c, while Daniel and Jack took the room beside theirs. Teal'c was by far the best choice – for several reasons – although Jack had only said that it would give her plenty of time to fix the problem at hand.

"He wasn't the _real_ Harry Potter, Teal'c. He was simply a boy dressed up like him."

"The real Harry Potter must still be at Hogwarts, then…"

"There isn't a _real_ Harry Potter, Teal'c," Sam said, realizing her mistake immediately. "He's made up. The boy was just pretending to be the boy from the books."

"The boy must have read the Histories to have been able to emulate Harry Potter so accurately."

Carter sighed.

"Lots of people have read the Hist- the Harry Potter books, Teal'c. They're _not_ secret, like you think. They're all over."

"The wizard world must be very upset about the leak of information."

"There is no-"

A knock on the door interrupted them and Jack and Daniel entered a moment later, looking around the room and automatically comparing it to their own. Same kind of room. Same size. Same beds. Nothing to be jealous of.

"Hi… Found your room okay, sir?" Sam asked, glad to have something to talk about besides Harry Potter.

"Well… it's so tricky," O'Neill said. "What with all the numbers on the door… in numerical order…"

"We found it," Daniel said, interrupting before Jack could really get started. "How are things going in here?"

She shrugged.

"We're doing fine…"

"We are not as yet unpacked," Teal'c said. "I still do not understand why General Hammond insisted we come here for vacation when it is obvious you do not wish to be here…"

"Carter's going to explain that."

He gave her a look that plainly said she'd better, and Sam sighed.

"I'm trying, sir."

"Try harder."

She was a _genius_, for crying out loud. How hard could it be?


	8. 08

Teal'c looked at Sam expectantly, and she hesitated, sitting down on the edge of the bed she'd claim as hers.

"You see, Teal'c… we brought you here because we thought-"

"Eh!"

Jack held up his hand, negating his own role in things.

"That is… _I_ thought… you might have a better understanding of how the whole Harry Potter thing works. See… we're at a convention. A Harry Potter convention."

"Convention?"

"It's where the fans for a particular genre – such as science fiction, or fantasy, or pretty much _anything_ – all get together to talk about whatever it is they're a fan of with others who share similar interests," Daniel explained. "Such as – in this case – this Harry Potter kid."

"The _books_," Sam corrected. "The people at this convention are all fans of the books – the same ones I gave you to read – and are here to get together with other fans of the Harry Potter books and talk about them and the woman who wrote them."

"J.K. Rowling."

Sam nodded.

"Yes."

"A wise woman… although the wizarding world must be truly put out with her if so many people know about them…"

Jack closed his eyes with a sigh, and Sam looked over at Daniel, hoping for a little help.

"There isn't a wizarding world, Teal'c," Daniel said. "This Rowling woman made it up. It only exists in her mind."

"Why then would so many people come to celebrate the telling of the Histories?"

"Why do people go to _Star Wars_ conventions?" Jack asked, losing patience with the whole mess. Teal'c was just being incredibly stubborn, and Jack was tired of beating around the bush. "Or _Star Trek_ conventions? They're all a bunch of crack pots that need to grow up and move out of their parents' houses and realize there's no space ships and… aliens…"

He trailed off, realizing that his argument wasn't all that great. Especially since he was talking to an alien and had flown in several different kinds of space ships.

"There's no such thing as magic," he said, finally. "It's made up. Like the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot."

"Who?"

"Never mind," Daniel said, quickly. The last thing they needed was to add to the mess they already had. Next thing you knew, they be in the forests around Seattle looking for Big Foot. "Jack's right, Teal'c. Magic isn't real."

Teal'c looked at Jack and Daniel for a moment, and for just a second, Daniel thought they might have had him convinced. Then he got that stubborn look in his expression that they all knew so well, and he lifted his chin just a hair.

"You are Muggles. That is what you are supposed to believe."

"Oh for crying out loud…"

Jack headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Daniel asked.

"I'm going to find something to eat."

"What about…"

"We'll let him see what's going on around here," Jack said, shrugging. "If he still doesn't figure it out, we'll get this Roman woman to tell him the truth."

"_Rowling_," Sam corrected, automatically.

"Whatever." He stopped at the door with his hand on the knob, frustration obvious in his expression and in the way he was standing. "Sign him up for some of the events they have going on, just make sure you stay with him. The last thing I need is for him to wander off and start a Harry Potter cult or something."

Carter nodded.

"Yes, sir. I'll get a schedule from the desk…"

"You do that. I'll see you guys later."

"Where are you going to be?" Daniel asked.

"Someplace where there's a lot of alcohol and no little kids."

With that he left the room, closing the door behind him firmly, plainly telling all of them that he didn't want company.

Sam sighed, and looked at Teal'c, who simply looked back at her.

"O'Neill seems upset."

"Yeah."

"Perhaps he needs a cheering charm."

Daniel stared at him, unsure what he was talking about, and Sam just sighed again.

"He's not the only one."

OOOOOOOO

Grumbling under his breath about stubborn Jaffa who just wouldn't listen to reason, O'Neill headed back the way they'd come. He'd seen a sign on the way into the hotel pointing out the bar and grill and figured that would be a good place to get something to eat, something to drink and try and regain just a little of his composure. This whole thing was so crazy that he felt like he was on some kind of candid camera show – except there was no way anyone would pull that kind of stunt with him. Or with Teal'c for that matter. Jaffa were not known for their sense of humor, after all, and neither was Jack.

Still annoyed, he made it to the elevator just as the door was opening, and a single boy jumped out at him, waving a stick at him with a flourish. Probably twelve, wearing a now familiar cloak, dark rimmed glasses and with a scar on his forehead shaped like a lightning bolt – and what the heck was _that_ all about? – the boy had obviously been waiting to catch someone off guard.

"Gotcha!" He yelled, waving the stick again. "Take that, Voldemort!"

O'Neill scowled, reached out and grabbed the stick from the kid before he even realized what was happening. His annoyance with Teal'c and his own lack of enjoyment at being ambushed by anyone – even a kid – took over, and with a quick motion he snapped the stick in two, breaking it over his knee with a resounding crack that echoed through the hall way. Then he handed the broken ends back to the shocked boy, feeling just a little bit better than he had a minute ago.

Without a word, he stepped past the boy and into the elevator, just as the door was about to close.

"Take _that_, Voldemort. Whoever you are."


	9. 09

By the time he'd left the elevator and headed across the lobby towards the restaurant, Jack was feeling just a little guilty for what he'd done to the kid's stick. Just a little, mind you. Maybe he'd overreacted just a little. Of course he hated being ambushed, so that was part of it, he hated being forced to come to some convention about some books he'd never read, and that was another part of it. And he was frustrated beyond belief. Which was just adding to his grumpiness. All that had simply combined, and the kid had taken the brunt of his bad mood. Well… the kid's stick had. It wasn't like he'd beat him over the head with the thing or something, after all.

By the time Jack had waded through a growing crowd of screaming kids – all dressed in cloaks or weird robes and carrying broomsticks, sticks – which he'd now figured out were supposed to be magic wands – and the occasional frog (and one kid even had a white rat in his hand that Jack had overheard him call Scabbers) O'Neill was wishing he'd never heard of Harry Potter and wasn't feeling guilty at all for what he'd done. Disappearing into the sanctuary of the bar section of the bar and grill – a place that no children could follow him – he breathed a sigh of relief, and headed for the bar.

"Good afternoon."

He nodded at the bartender's greeting, looking at his watch. It was barely noon, and he was already feeling like he'd been up for days.

"Hi. How about a menu, a beer and some aspirin?"

The bartender smiled.

"Which order?"

"Surprise me."

He sat down at the bar, rubbing his temples, and the bartender slid him a menu, with a package of aspirin tablets on top of it. A moment later a glass of ice water followed.

"Thanks."

"You look like you've had a long day…"

Jack looked over at the speaker – it wasn't the bartender – and saw that a woman had joined him. She was older than he was, but he couldn't be sure how much older, and didn't look at all like she was anywhere near ready to slow down. She looked about as tired as he felt, though, and he found himself wondering if she had some kids here at the convention that she was herding around and had come for a little time away from them. Which made him feel an instant kinship with her.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," O'Neill told her, shaking his head, and taking the beer the bartender handed him with a nod of thanks.

She gave him a tight smile.

"I'd believe it. Are you here for the convention?"

He nodded, popping the aspirin and washing down with the water. And then shook his head.

"_I'm_ not. Not really. But my friend – _friends_ – are. I haven't even read the books."

"Have you seen the movies?"

"They have _movies_?"

She smiled, and this one was more amused.

"Obviously you're not a fan."

"It shows, huh?"

"A little."

The bartender handed him a beer, and looked at the woman, expectantly. She gestured towards Jack's beer.

"I'll have one of those."

"Coming right up."

"Are you?" Jack asked.

"Am I what?"

"Here for the convention."

She nodded.

"More or less."

"Meaning?"

She smiled.

"Meaning I'm not here because I have a child or children to watch over, but I'm here to keep track of things."

"Oh."

He had to admit that he kind of liked this lady. Or maybe he was just desperate for someone to talk to that wasn't waving a magic wand in his face and wearing a lighting bolt on his forehead. He stuck his hand out.

"I'm Jack."

She took his hand, and he wasn't surprised that she had a firm grip.

"Minerva."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Well… it looks like there are a number of different things we can sign you up for Teal'c."

The three remaining members of SG-1 had made their way down to the lobby of the hotel as well, where people were checking in and also checking out the schedule of events for the convention the next two days. While there wasn't anything official on the books for that night, they had already overheard several plans for getting together and watching movies or reading books, and one dueling club – which made Daniel wonder just what weapons they'd be using – and why the parents standing around didn't seem to mind at all.

"There's Quidditch in the morning," Sam continued.

"What's that?" Daniel asked.

"Quidditch? It's the wizard sport… soccer played on brooms, basically."

"Several hundred feet in the air," Teal'c added.

Daniel gave them an incredulous look, and realized that this was another chance to try and prove to Teal'c that none of it was real.

"So… you think they'll be flying around on broomsticks, then?"

"Of course not, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

Daniel smiled. Maybe they were getting through to him, after all.

"Young wizards are not allowed to perform magic outside of school. Undoubtedly they will merely be giving a demonstration of how the sport is played, using regular broomsticks which do not fly."

Daniel sighed.

"I think I'll go see what Jack's doing."

"What about the schedule?" Sam asked.

"Just sign me up for whatever you guys are doing… I'll meet you guys later in the room – or in the restaurant, if you decide you're hungry."

"We'll be there shortly," Sam said. She'd need something to drink, soon, she was sure.


	10. 10

Daniel was surprised to see that Jack wasn't alone at the bar. He was even more surprised to see that the person Jack was sitting beside, talking quietly and sipping a beer, was an older woman, who probably didn't know all that much about football, hockey or any of the other things that Jack usually talked about the rare times he found someone beside him in a bar that interested him enough to chat with. Which meant she was interesting in some other way – and that made Daniel curious enough to go over instead of leave the two alone to their conversation.

"Hi, Jack…"

O'Neill looked up, as did the woman he was sitting beside. Daniel gave her a polite smile.

"Daniel."

"Who's your friend?"

Jack wasn't at all fooled. He knew Daniel would be curious about the woman he was talking to.

"Daniel, meet Minerva. Minerva, this is my friend Daniel."

She offered Daniel her hand and he found her grip to be firm and cool, although her eyes were warm.

"Hello, Daniel."

"It's nice to meet you, Minerva." He looked at the bar stool on the other side of her – since Jack was sitting on the end. "May I sit down? Or are you two having a _private_ discussion?"

She gestured for him to join them, and watched as he sat.

"So… Jack here has been telling me that he isn't a Harry Potter fan. Are you?"

"Are you J.K. Rowling?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"No."

"Then, no. I'm not. I haven't read the books, and until ten minutes ago I didn't know anything about Quidditch."

"What's _Quidditch_?" Jack asked.

"It's a game the wizards play," Minerva told him. "On broomsticks."

Jack scowled.

"You've got to be _kidding_…"

"Oh, no," Daniel said, gesturing to the bartender that he wanted a menu. "Apparently it's _all_ the rage…"

"On _broomsticks_?"

"So I was told."

"At least the floor's clean by the time they finish…"

Minerva snorted into her beer, and started coughing, and Daniel pounded her back carefully while she sputtered.

"You okay?"

She nodded, and they could both see tears in her eyes, but Daniel wasn't sure if they were from snorting beer or from amusement.

"Yes, thank you." She took a napkin and wiped her nose, and then looked at Jack.

"It's played in mid-air, Jack. On a field. Like soccer."

"They're giving a demonstration tomorrow," Daniel added. "Sam and Murray are signing us all up…"

"That should be interesting."

Oh, yeah, he didn't even sound a little sincere about that, and although she didn't know him well, Minerva couldn't miss the sarcasm.

"It might surprise you."

Jack snorted his doubt of that happening, and took another sip of his beer, and with a smile, Minerva changed the subject, looking at Daniel.

"So, Jack tells me he's in the Air Force. What do you do, Daniel?"

"I'm an archeologist."

"That must be fascinating."

He nodded, more than willing to discuss his line of work with someone who was actually interested in hearing about it. "It can be. Especially when you find a particularly interesting dig, or something that validates a theory you – or people you respect – have been working on. I-"

"Minerva's a professor," Jack said, interrupting. God, he'd rather listen to her talking about teaching than Daniel talking about digging.

"Really?"

The woman nodded.

"Where do you teach?"

She smiled.

"You wouldn't have heard of it, I'm sure. It's a small, private school in England."

"Oh, you're from England?"

She nodded.

"What are you in Seattle for?"

"This convention."

"Really?"

"But she doesn't have any kids to watch…" Jack said. "She's just here to see how things go."

"Oh."

Daniel looked at Minerva, hoping for an explanation, but she had turned and was watching the door, where Teal'c and Sam had just appeared. The two of them had an armful of pamphlets and information brochures, and were looking around.

"I need to go," Minerva told them, draining her beer. "It really was a pleasure talking to both of you, and I hope to see you again."

Jack turned as well, and nodded, wondering if she somehow knew that Teal'c and Sam were looking for them and was scared off by Teal'c's size. She didn't look like anything would frighten her, though, and Jack was a pretty good judge of that kind of thing. So instead of trying to convince her to stick around and meet the others – who might or might not find her as interesting as Jack did – he simply nodded, and offered her his hand once more.

"We'll be around. Look for us; I'll buy you another beer."

"An offer I can't refuse," she said, smiling. She shook Daniel's hand as well, and headed for the door, nodding a greeting to Sam and Teal'c as she passed them.

"Who was that?" Sam asked, sitting down and littering the bar with all sorts of stuff.

"Probably the only other non Harry Potter fan in this entire place," Jack said, sourly, watching as another group of people entered the bar. These were adults, and plenty old enough to be in the place. Unfortunately for his peace of mind, they were all wearing cloaks and odd clothing, and he was pretty sure he saw at least one wand sticking out of a pocket.

"We found some activities for tomorrow, sir," Sam said, drawing his attention from the group and back to them. "And a couple for Sunday as well, if we stick around."

She was hoping that they wouldn't have to – who knew, maybe Teal'c could be convinced before then? But she had her doubts about that. For that matter, she was beginning to think that the convention hadn't been that great an idea, since it was filled with a lot of people who were acting like they believed in magic, too. It probably wasn't the wisest thing to have done, bringing Teal'c here, but she was too stubborn to admit she might have been wrong – especially since Hammond had forced O'Neill to come.

"Joy. What about today?"

She shook her head.

"Mostly it's just a lot of informal stuff while people arrive. I didn't think you'd be interested in any of them."

Jack gave her a look that plainly said he wasn't any more interested in the _formal_ stuff than he was the informal stuff, but he didn't say it. Instead, he handed her the menu that he'd already ordered from.

"Good. Let's eat, and then go somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Anywhere that I don't have to see broomsticks."


	11. 11

Because of the rain, they opted to go someplace in doors, and since none of them were Seattle natives they simply ended up doing the regular tourist things; which in this case included visiting an aquarium and then going to the Museum of Flight – which Teal'c found fascinating – and Daniel found more or less boring. Jack and Sam ran Teal'c through the various histories of human flight, showing him each consecutive design, and Daniel began to wish that he was back at the hotel learning more about Quidditch, or anything besides airplanes. Even flying brooms was more interesting than what he was doing now, and he was half tempted to ask Teal'c to loan him one of those books to occupy himself. Only the fact that he was pretty sure Jack would have killed him with a look stopped him, and instead he ended up wandering off from the other three

He found himself in another section of the museum, idly looking at displays and wondering how much longer the others were going to insist on sticking around, when he came around a corner and was promptly knocked to the ground.

"Sorry about that!"

Strong hands pulled him to his feet.

"My fault," Daniel said, quickly, certain that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going and had crashed into someone. He looked up at the person he'd hit, and the next words died on his lips. The guy standing in front of him was literally the largest person he'd ever seen – okay, aside from those giants that his grandfather was hanging out with. Shaggy and absolutely huge, he was a bear of a man, and Daniel couldn't help staring.

Luckily, the guy didn't take any offense. Probably, Daniel decided, he was used to people looking at him.

"You okay?"

Daniel nodded.

"Um… yeah. Thanks."

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention ter where I was going."

Daniel smiled, ironically.

"I wasn't, either. No harm done."

"This place is pretty interesting, eh?"

"Um…"

Before he could say anything that at least would make him sound like he was interested in where he was, the man stuck his hand out.

"I'm Rubeus."

Daniel took the offered hand, and found his immediately engulfed. Still distracted by the sheer size of the guy – which was saying something considering that he was friends with Teal'c – he nodded a greeting.

"Daniel."

"Are you a pilot, Daniel?" Rubeus asked him, curiously.

"Um… no. You?"

Of course, as big as he was, Daniel pretty much knew that answer long before Rubeus shook his head with a grin on his hairy face.

"'fraid not." He gestured to the small one-seater plane that was displayed next to where they were standing. "Could you imagine me tryin' to get in the cockpit o that contraption?" He asked, good-naturedly.

Daniel smiled, and shook his head.

"I guess not."

"Nah, I like ter fly, but not like that – although Professor Mc- that is… this _friend_ of mine… told me I'd like this place. And she was right."

"You're here with someone?"

He was curious if the friend was just as big.

"Nah, she's gone. But I'm supposed ter be meeting her at the hotel soon, so I'd better get going before she comes looking for me. She wouldn't like that."

"No. I can relate." Boy, could he _ever_! He held out his hand once more. "It was good to… meet you, Rubeus."

"We'll bump into each other again sometime, maybe, Daniel."

Daniel smiled, and watched bemused as the large man disappeared into the next room. A moment later there was a loud crack from that room, and Daniel, thinking that something had fallen on the big guy, headed for the door. When he entered the room, though, it was empty. Even odder, Daniel couldn't find an exit.

"What in the world…"

"_Daniel_!"

He started, guiltily, and looked around. Jack had come up behind him, scowling.

"What are you doing?"

Daniel looked back into the room, and then at Jack once more.

"I was… um… talking to… this guy… and he… disappeared…"

"Yeah?" Jack sounded annoyed, but just looked resigned. "Why do I know _exactly_ how that feels? Oh, yeah… because it happens to me _all the time_."

"Sorry."

"We're done here, unless you want to stick around and look for your invisible friend?"

"He wasn't invisible, Jack… he was _huge_…"

"Uh huh. Let's go. We're going to take Teal'c to the Space Needle."

"What?"

O'Neill shrugged, annoyed.

"He saw a thing on the wall about it and asked to go."

"And you said _yes_?"

Jack scowled.

"It's not like I have a whole hell of a lot of other things to do, Daniel. It's that or go back to the hotel and hang out with the weirdoes."

Good point.

Daniel took another look into the room, and then followed Jack back to the others, who had been waiting at the exit while Jack had gone off looking for the archeologist. There was a bus waiting for them – a city bus that shouldn't have waited, except that the driver had been beguiled by Sam's warm smile and had promised to wait.

"Where were you?" Sam asked.

Before Daniel could say anything, Jack spoke up.

"Don't ask, Carter… you don't want to know the answer."

Jack walked past the two of them and headed for the bus, followed by Teal'c, and Sam looked at Daniel with a mixture of curiosity and sympathy.

"So you going to tell me?"

Daniel shook his head, feeling a headache forming behind his right eye.

"You'd never believe it," he said, shaking his head and heading for the bus as well – with another look behind him before he did. "I don't even believe it…"


	12. 12

The only good thing Jack had to say about the rest of the day was that they didn't see any more weirdoes. Well… that wasn't entirely true – they _were_ in Seattle, after all – but they didn't see any more people in cloaks and glasses and scars waving sticks. Of course, it could have had something to do with the fact that once they were finished at the Space Needle – which had a restaurant in it, so they opted to eat dinner there – they went back to the hotel and straight to their rooms. Jack and Daniel were both nursing headaches and figured they'd just make it an early night, Sam was soaked and wanted a long, hot bath, and Teal'c wanted to try and finish the third book of the series that night so he'd be able to start the fourth – which looked just as interesting as the third.

"The first events start at 10 AM, sir," Sam said in the hallway outside the door of Jack and Daniel's room. "Do we want to meet up before then and have breakfast?"

Since Jack pretty much looked like he was hoping he'd die in his sleep and be freed of all the coming events, Daniel answered first.

"We'll come find you, Sam."

She gave Daniel a grateful smile, her feelings just a little hurt by how annoyed O'Neill was. It was her fault, sure, but he didn't have to treat her like a leper because of it, did he?

"Okay, Daniel. Good night."

He smiled.

"Night, Sam. Night Teal'c."

"Good night."

Jack turned and walked into the room without a backwards glance.

OOOOOOO

"What's your problem?"

He'd taken a few Tylenol and had stretched out – fully clothed – on his bed, with his head under the pillow to blot out all light, waiting for the painkillers to take control of his throbbing head, but now Jack moved the pillow aside and looked up at Daniel, who had been quiet since they'd said goodnight to Carter and Teal'c.

"What?"

"_You're_ being a jerk."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Look, it was _one_ kid, and I'm sorry I broke his stick, okay? I'll find him and get him a new one. It's not like there aren't a million trees around here, after all."

Daniel looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What are you talking about?"

Jack scowled.

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"You're being a jerk to Sam."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Daniel…" He wasn't in the mood for this. For that matter, he wasn't in the mood for anything. A day filled with air travel, hotel with screaming kids, playing tourist in a town that was only mildly interesting – unless you actually _wanted_ to be there – and a lot of gray skies and rain had combined to make him feel grumpy. All he wanted was for his head to stop pounding.

"You are."

"Fine, I _am_. I'll apologize later."

"Or you could just stop being a jerk to her."

"I'm not being-"

"_Yes_, you-"

"Stop."

Daniel paused, looking down at him expectantly, and Jack sighed. Yeah, maybe he was being a little bit of a jerk. But look where he was!

"Fine, I'm a jerk. You happy?"

"No. And now, thanks to you, _Sam's_ not happy, either. Just be a little nicer, okay? She's having just as rough a weekend as you are, remember."

Jack scowled, and put the pillow back over his face. He didn't need a lecture on top of everything else.

"Go to bed, Daniel."

The archeologist didn't continue griping. He knew Jack well enough to know that he was going to think it through whether he wanted to or not – and most likely, he'd see that he Daniel had been right, and that he'd been a jerk. Jack wasn't a bad guy; after all, he was just easily annoyed. And quick tempered and quick to judge and quick to become angry and hold a grudge. But aside from that…

"You need the bathroom? I'm going to take a shower."

"No."

He headed into the bathroom, and Jack was left alone in his misery. A half hour later when Daniel came out with a towel wrapped around his waist feeling better for being clean and warm – although his head was still pounding, he was still in the same position. Daniel didn't try to talk to him; it was obvious Jack didn't want to talk, and Daniel wasn't really in the mood for anything but some sleep. He changed into some pajamas and went to bed. Tomorrow was another day, after all. Plenty of time to make Jack feel guilty.

OOOOOOOO

By the time Sam came out of the bathroom – and the _bathtub_ – she was feeling a lot better than she had before she'd gone in to soak. A bath will do that every time, though. Which was why she'd taken one. She was still feeling a little hurt by O'Neill's attitude, but she was used to it, really, and she knew him well enough by now to know that he didn't really mean it. Most of it, anyways. He was just blowing off some steam in the only way he knew how. She shouldn't be taking it so personally. Even though he was aiming it at her.

Dressed for bed before she left the bathroom, one look at Teal'c told her that she didn't need to bother with the modesty. She probably could have danced naked in front of him and he wouldn't have even noticed. He was stretched out on his bed, fully engrossed in the book he was reading.

"Almost done with it, I see…"

He looked up.

"Indeed. It is intriguing… The time turner sounds like a most intriguing piece of technology – it is not something the Goa'uld have ever used, however."

"That's because it's not real, Teal'c," Sam said, giving it another try.

"It is in the History, Major Carter," Teal'c said, calmly. "It must be."

She sighed, and gave up for the night. No sense losing the relaxed feeling the bath had given her, after all. Sliding into bed, she rolled over away from the light of the lamp on the stand by Teal'c's bed.

"Good night, Teal'c."

"Good night, Major Carter."


	13. 13

As early as he'd gone to bed, it was no real surprise that Jack woke up well before the others the next morning. He had eventually fallen asleep still wearing the slacks and shirt he'd been wearing the night before, and when he woke up he couldn't help but feel just a bit rumpled and out of sorts. Which came from going to bed fully dressed and annoyed. A quick shower did a lot to take care of that annoyance, however, and he came to the realization that Daniel was right and he probably had been a jerk to Carter the day before. He'd try to do better that day, and maybe find a way to make it up to her. Or at least not be such a grump. He also decided that he'd try to find that kid whose stick he'd broken and replace it – even though the odds of that were pretty slim. It wasn't like there probably weren't going to be 400 kids running around the hotel all wearing exactly what that kid had been. Maybe he'd look for the only one not carrying a wand. Or the depressed looking one.

Shaking his head, he shaved and then got out of the shower. A change of clothes (jeans and a flannel shirt) took care of the rumpled feeling, and he was feeling a lot better by the time he decided he was hungry.

He went out into the main room, but Daniel was still asleep, snoring lightly with his glasses skewed on his face and a faint line of drool running down the corner of his cheek. Jack debated waking him up; decided he didn't feel like a lecture – just in case the archeologist was still miffed with him – slipped on a pair of loafers, grabbed his wallet and headed for the door. A minute later he was standing by the elevators, pushing the button to the main lobby. The hotel restaurant would be open he was sure – and hopefully it'd be too early for most of the kids to be awake, because he doubted that the bar and grill would be open this early and wouldn't be able to find a sanctuary away from them.

Then the elevator door opened, and Jack gave a purely mental groan. Standing there, looking a little rumpled himself, was yet another kid. This one was dark haired, wearing glasses – like all the others – and had a scar on his forehead. Like all the others. Amazingly, as Jack got on the elevator, the young man actually tried to smooth his hair flat, covering the scar, although it immediately flipped up once more.

Remembering his promise to himself to try and be a little nicer to the kids today, Jack gave him a tight smile as the door closed behind him.

"I'll bet your name's _Harry Potter_."

The boy started, and his hand went to his hair once more to push it down, but he stopped and put his hand in the pocket of his jeans instead.

"How did you know that?"

Jack detected a British accent, and wondered if it was real or if the kid was imitating it because this Potter kid went to school in England, too. He gestured to the scar.

"Lucky guess."

The boy blushed, and looked down at his feet for a moment, and then back at Jack, who felt like a heel for embarrassing him.

"I'm Jack. Jack O'Neill."

Harry nodded a greeting, and Jack saw what had to be a wand in the back pocket of the kid's jeans.

"Nice to meet you."

There was an awkward pause as the two of them stared at the closed door, and Jack spoke up again.

"So… you here for the convention?"

Jeeze! Of course he was here for the convention! What? Did the kid run around every day with a stick in his pocket and a scar drawn on his head?

Harry smiled, though, and nodded.

"Yes. For today, anyways. We've never been to one."

"You're here with your parents?"

The smile faded, and suddenly the boy seemed even younger than the fourteen or so that Jack had assumed him to be.

"No… I'm with some friends."

He didn't say it, but Jack had a feeling that there was something either wrong with the boy's parents, or worse.

The elevator door swooshed open, and O'Neill almost cheered. He waited just a moment to give the boy a chance to step out first and then got out himself. Amazingly, they both headed for the restaurant.

"I'm supposed to meet my friends," Harry told him, almost apologetically, as if he was worried Jack would think he was following him.

Jack nodded.

"I am, too, but I think they're probably all still sleeping."

The boy nodded, too, and they walked side by side into the restaurant. Only to find it completely empty.

"I guess _my_ friends are asleep, too."

Jack nodded – again – for lack of anything better to do, but before he could say anything they were met by the hostess, who had a very large smile on her face and looked far too chipper for that time of day.

"Table for two?" She asked.

"Actually," Jack said, "We're meeting people…"

"So… a bigger table?" She asked.

"Separately," Harry said.

"Oh."

Jack shrugged. What the hell, he could use a little awkward company while he waited for the others.

"Why don't I buy you a cup of coffee, Harry, until your friends come down?"

It wouldn't really make up for breaking that other kid's stick _or_ for being a jerk to Carter, but it was an attempt.

"I don't drink coffee, Jack."

"Hot chocolate, then."

Harry hesitated, but then shrugged.

"Okay."

Why not? He didn't like sitting alone any more than most people did.

Jack turned to the hostess.

"A table for two – for now – but we're going to need other tables later."

"That's fine, sir," she told him brightly. "Come this way, please." And she led the two of them to one of the booths against the wall – which would be perfect for watching for the others. As they sat down, the hostess handed them menus, and told them a waitress would be right with them, and then she vanished.

"Are you here for the convention?" Harry asked.

Jack smiled, and nodded.

"Kind of."

"You brought your kids?"

This time it was Jack who looked just a little vulnerable and hurt, and the boy seemed to realize immediately that he'd hit on a sensitive subject.

"Sorry."

Jack waved off the apology, giving him a half-hearted smile.

"Don't be."

The two of them stared down at their menus, not really looking at them, just not really able to look at each other for a moment, and it was Jack that finally spoke up.

"I'm here with a fewfriends… one is turning into a huge fan, and I'm hoping to keep it from becoming an obsession."

Harry nodded, looking up from his menu.

"You're not a fan?"

"No. Not really. _You_ must be, though, huh?"

The boy smiled, and Jack thought maybe he was blushing just a bit.

"I'm not all that big a fan, really… I never knew about how famous Harry Potter was until only a few years ago."

"You're a step ahead of me," Jack said. "_I_ didn't know until a few _days_ ago."


	14. 14

_Author's Note: Nah, this shouldn't be a shippy story (at least I'm not planning on it being one)_

OOOOOOOO

They sat in relative silence for a few moments, and a waitress came up to them, looking just as chipper as the Hostess had.

"Are you ready to order?"

Jack looked over at the boy, who hadn't even looked at his menu, really.

"My treat, Harry."

"Hot chocolate, please."

The waitress looked at Jack.

"Coffee."

She nodded and wrote both orders down, although she wouldn't be much of a waitress if she couldn't remember something that easy.

"I'll be right back."

"Thanks."

She left them alone, and the two of them fell silent once more, until Harry spoke up.

"So… what do you do for a living?"

"I'm in the Air Force."

"Really?"

Jack nodded.

"Are you a pilot?"

"I was."

"Too old now?"

Jack scowled.

"I'm not _that_ old."

This time Harry simply smiled. He hadn't meant it quite like that, of course, but he could tell that Jack wasn't really all that annoyed – even though he'd acted like he was.

"Sorry."

"Uh huh."

He didn't _look_ all that sorry.

"So what do you do in the Air Force, then, if you don't fly anymore?"

Jack shrugged.

"I work with deep space telemetry."

"What's that mean?"

"It's complicated."

"Try me."

He was rescued by the return of the waitress, who set a cup of coffee in front of him and a cup of hot chocolate in front of the boy.

"Thanks." Before Harry could ask about deep space telemetry again, Jack changed the subject. "What do you do?"

"What?"

"For fun. What do you do for fun?"

Harry shrugged.

"Spend time with-"

"Harry!"

Jack and the boy both turned – although Jack was surprised to find that the boy's name really was Harry. That was two in the last two days. Of course, Harry was a common name, but still…

A girl came up to them. She was probably a year or so younger than Harry, and had red hair and a friendly smile. And she was watching Jack, obviously wondering who he was.

"Hi, Ginny." Harry said, smiling.

"Who's your friend?"

"This is Jack. This is my friend Ginny."

The girl smiled, although it was obvious she was curious how Harry had managed to make friends with some old guy since the last time she'd seen him.

"Hi, Jack."

Now he was feeling even more out of his element. It was one thing to make conversation with a young boy – he'd been doing a fair job of that, even though it had been awkward – but he didn't know anything about little girls.

"Nice to meet you."

"Jack's in the Air Force," Harry said, moving over in the booth so that she could sit beside him.

"Really?" She looked over at him with a little more interest. "What do you do?"

"I-"

"He works with telemetry," Harry said. "Space stuff, or something. It's _complicated_."

"Oh."

Since Jack couldn't have described it any better, he simply nodded.

"Yup."

Yeah, it wasn't the most brilliant conversation, but what could you expect?

"Everyone-"

A sudden commotion at the doorway announced the arrival of the rest of Harry's friends – at least Jack assumed they were, since they all stopped only long enough to look around the room, and then made a beeline towards the booth Jack, Harry and Ginny were sitting at. There were five more people, and Jack decided instantly that they were all related to each other and to Ginny. Red hair and the same open expressions on all of them. A mother and father, obviously, and a pair of twins a couple years older than Harry probably was, and a boy about the same age – although taller. This boy was the first to reach them, and although he, too, gave Jack an odd look, he still was fairly friendly.

"Hi."

Harry smiled, knowing his friend was curious about Jack.

"Ron, this is Jack. Jack, this is my friend Ron."

"Jack's in the Air Force," Ginny added, pleased to know something that her brother didn't.

"Do you fly?" Ron asked, obviously impressed.

Before Jack could answer, the rest of the family reached the booth as well, and Jack suddenly felt way in over his head. Not that he didn't like strangers, but come on…

"Who's your friend, Harry?" The father asked.

Jack spoke up for himself, this time, offering the man his hand.

"Jack O'Neill."

"Good Lord…" the man said, his eyes widening slightly, his hand freezing even as he'd reached out to shake Jack's hand. "_Colonel_ Jack O'Neill?"


	15. 15

Surprised by the man's reaction, Jack frowned, even as the man flushed and took his hand shaking it jovially.

"Sorry about that. I'm Arthur Weasley. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You've heard of him?" Harry asked, just as surprised as Jack was.

"Um… well… yes…"

Now Mr. Weasley was looking flustered, and Jack could tell he was floundering as badly as Carter had been when trying to tell Teal'c Harry Potter didn't exist. Before Weasley could say anything the woman spoke up, smiling.

"Well, Arthur's an enthusiast for Mug- I mean, _American_ military things… he's read all sorts of articles and such. He probably saw your name in them somewhere…"

Even Arthur didn't look like he bought that story, but he nodded, anyways.

"Yes, I'm quite a fan of all things… military. _Air Force_, at least."

"Ah."

Jack looked like he was going to say something else, but the woman spoke up again, offering his hand with yet another warm smile – and Jack thought he saw some kind of admiration in her expression as well, even though he didn't have a clue why.

"I'm Molly."

He shook her hand, and the twins gathered around as well, anxious to be introduced to someone who their father obviously knew but wasn't so well known by them.

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am…" Jack was definitely out of his element, now, and more than ready to go find his own table to wait for his teammates. "I should let you all get back to whatever you are doing – I'm sure you have a lot of plans for the day." He was rather surprised that none of them were carrying sticks or had scars drawn on their forehead like Harry did, but maybe they were just waiting for later… who knew?

Molly smiled – almost as if she understood how uncomfortable he was, and nodded, and Jack turned to Harry with a slight, but uncomfortable smile. "See you around."

He stood up and started to beat a hasty retreat over to the other side of the room, but couldn't help but miss one of the twins ask their father how he knew him. As much as Jack might have wanted to stick around and hear the answer, he definitely didn't want to stick around. Instead, he gestured to the waitress who had brought his coffee, asking her for another cup as he went over to the other side of the restaurant, and settled down with his back to the large group.

Before his coffee arrived, Daniel had arrived in the restaurant.

"Hey."

Jack looked up at the familiar voice.

"Hi."

"Why didn't you wake me up? Or did you feel the need to sulk _alone_?"

O'Neill scowled.

"I'm not sulking."

"Which is why you have your back to the entire room and you're hiding in a corner?"

"I'm not hiding." Well, yeah, he sort of was. "I'm not _sulking_, anyways."

Daniel, ever a student of words and inflection, caught the wording immediately.

"But you _are_ hiding?"

Jack shrugged.

"Maybe."

"From who? Whom? Sam?"

He scowled again.

"Of course not. I just don't want to talk to that group of people…"

"What group of people?"

"The ones over…"

Jack trailed off as he turned to look, and then scowled even more. None of them were there. While he'd been avoiding them, they'd all left. Annoying really, since he hadn't noticed, and he was good at noticing that kind of thing. He should have at least heard them leaving, after all. A group that large and filled with young people couldn't move so quietly.

"…never mind…"

Daniel smiled, shaking his head as he sat down.

"Maybe you should take some time off, Jack. I think you need a vacation."

"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation?"

"It's not one I ever would have chosen…"

At least they agreed on that, Jack decided. He nodded and thanked the waitress who brought him his coffee, and took a sip while she gave Daniel a warm smile – almost an inviting smile – and asked him if she could get him anything.

While Daniel ordered coffee, Jack looked once more at the empty table he had shared with Harry. Before he could start mulling over the encounter – and wondering about Arthur's reaction to his name – a movement at the entrance to the restaurant caught his attention and he saw Carter and Teal'c stop just long enough to spot him and Daniel and then head their way.

"Good morning."

Sam's greeting was a little unsure – mainly because she wasn't exactly sure what O'Neill's mood was going to – but she sat down beside Daniel with a real smile on her face. And why shouldn't she smile? The day was clear and sunny – which was probably not all that common here – and it was a whole new day with more chances to convince Teal'c that wizards didn't exist.

Reminding himself of his promise to be nice today, Jack gave her a real smile – one that even reached his eyes, Sam saw.

"Good morning. How'd you sleep?"

She smiled, realizing that the day was even better. It was very hard, after all, to deal with O'Neill when he was being antagonistic, and it was obvious to her that he wasn't feeling that way this morning.

"Like a baby. You?"

"Daniel snores."

"I do not."

"And he drools."

"No I don't."

Sam's smile widened. Jack _was_ in a good mood if he was teasing Daniel already this morning!

"We all have our crosses to bear, sir," she told him philosophically.

"Uh huh." He took another sip of his coffee. "Speaking of crosses to bear… what are we signed up for in this convention today?"

His eyes were still warm, she saw, which meant he was truly interested – or at least making an honest effort to try to be interested – and Sam felt a wave of relief, and decided Daniel had probably lectured him the night before – or that morning. She'd have to remember to thank him later for it.

"We're going to see the Quidditch demonstration this morning," she reminded him. "But I wasn't sure what you wanted to do this afternoon… there's a list of various workshops out in the lobby I thought we could check out…"

He shrugged, and Daniel spoke up.

"Why don't you two go check the list out while Teal'c and I order breakfast?"

Jack gave him a sidelong glance that was only a little annoyed, and Daniel's answering look was innocence personified. It was also a reminder of his promise to be nicer.

"_Fine_. Let's go do that, Carter."


	16. 16

_Author's Note: No, I know that Seattle isn't always rainy (I live fairly close to there, after all) but Jack and them don't._

OOOOOOO

While the announcement board for the convention was in the main lobby, in order to keep from clogging that most important area of the hotel with convention goers (and screaming yelling children) the powers that be in the hotel had set up several smaller rooms for actual sign up and discussions of the events that would be going on later in the day.

O'Neill and Carter walked to the announcement board, and joined the large cluster of children and adults that were already there. Jack looked for the little kid who had 'attacked' him the day before, but he didn't see him – of course, he probably wouldn't have recognized him if he was standing right beside him, so that was no surprise.

"See anything interesting, sir?" Sam asked, pulling Jack's attention away from the crowd and back to the board.

He bit back the sarcastic comment he really wanted to make, and looked at his choices. One mentioned that there would be a sorting at the beginning of the convention – and everyone was expected to attend.

"Do I dare ask what they're going to be sorting?"

Sam smiled.

"There are four different houses at Hogwarts – that the wizard school in the book – and there's a hat that sorts the kids into their houses their first night there…"

"They draw names out of it?"

This was just getting odder and odder.

Since a number of the people around him were looking at him like he was an alien for not knowing any of this, Jack scowled despite his promise to himself that he was going to be more cheerful today.

Sam's smile grew.

"It talks."

"Oh."

Of _course_ it talks. What had he been thinking?

"In your _head_," one of the kids standing in front of Jack added, having been listening in on the conversation. "It tells what house you should be in – like if you're really smart it'll put you in Ravenclaw, and if you're loyal it'll put you in Hufflepuff and if-"

"If you're mean it puts you in Slytherin," another said, anxious to share her knowledge with anyone else – and eager to prove she knew just as much as anyone about the magical world.

Jack sighed and once more reminded himself that he was going to be nice, even as all the kids around him and Carter started babbling about houses and which one was best and who had won the house cup and the Quidditch cup and all sorts of stuff. Jack could feel the headache starting to form.

"Why don't we go see the _candies of the magical world_ thing?" Sam said, wondering how he was managing to keep his temper in check with a bunch of kids all talking to him at once.

"It's a little early for sugar…"

"It's never too early for chocolate, sir."

He shrugged, and nodded, and followed her away from the crowd around the information board and hoping none of the kids followed them. The last thing they needed was a group of sugar-infested children running around.

"You've read all these books, Carter?" Jack asked as they walked back to the restaurant to get Daniel and Teal'c. No sense leaving them out of the fun, after all.

She nodded.

"The ones that have come out. There are only four, now – but there are supposed to be seven by the time the series is finished."

Jack shook his head, but didn't ask her why she'd started reading the series. She was an aunt, and it was pretty obvious that kids liked this whole Harry Potter thing, so that was probably the reason. He didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out, after all.

Teal'c and Daniel met them at the entrance to the restaurant.

"We were just coming to find you," Daniel said.

"Well, we're going to go explore the wonderful world of magical candy," Jack told him – only barely controlling the sarcasm. "So we thought we'd come and get you two."

Teal'c gave a slight inclination of his head – not a bow, really, but close.

"I had hoped to have an opportunity to sample some every flavored beans," he said.

Jack didn't even ask.

OOOOOOOO

"I'm _not_ eating that."

"Come on, sir, it's probably good."

"No."

"Daniel?"

"No way, Sam."

"It's not _really_ a frog. It's just chocolate."

"I'm _not_ eating it," Daniel said. He'd already tried a dozen other things at the table, and without a solid breakfast to buffer the sugar he already had roaring through his system from eating jellybeans, treacle tarts, pumpkin pasties and half a dozen other odd confections, there was no way he was going to add chocolate.

"Me, either."

Jack hadn't tried many other candies, either – not being the sort to try new things if he didn't have to – but he definitely drew the line at reptile-shaped chocolate. On the plus side, the frogs in the book – so Sam told him – were magic and jumped around. These didn't, which had disappointed Teal'c. Maybe they were a step closer to actually accomplishing what they'd come to do.

Teal'c had already popped one into his mouth and was chewing it with a look of intense concentration on his stoic face – maybe hoping it would hop around in his mouth – and Sam nibbled the head off one.

"It's good," she told them.

"That's nice."

"Daniel…"

"No, Sam. Thanks, but I really don't want any more candy…"

What _he_ wanted was breakfast, although he was pretty sure they weren't going to have time for that now. The rest of the convention had started getting underway and they were planning on doing that whole sorting thing, soon. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

"The sorting's starting!" Came an announcement from one of the vendors.

Immediately the room started clearing – kids squealing excitedly ad rushing for the door, followed by parents who were intent on not losing their offspring in the mad rush.

"We'd better get going, too," Sam said, giving Jack an apologetic smile.

Although Teal'c looked as though he was more than ready to spend the rest of the day munching his way through the exhibits, he nodded as well. They turned and headed for the door, but were stopped just as they reached it by an older man wearing a bright green cloak and an odd expression on his face. He gave them all a greasy smile, and handed them each a small bag.

"A gift to you from my Master," he wheezed.

Sam gave the man an uncertain smile, and Teal'c bowed slightly. Daniel took it, figuring it was part of the whole kooky convention thing, and Jack simply scowled.

"Thanks."

The man nodded and they left the room, heading for the elevator. The hallway was already deserted, although they could hear the murmuring sound of hundreds of people only a few corridors away.

"That was odd…"

"Yeah."

Jack looked back, and saw the old man standing in the hall watching them, and a moment later he had the oddest sensation of something grabbing him behind the navel and pulling on him. He heard a gasp from Sam, and then felt himself dissolve.


	17. 17

Naturally, the moment he felt himself dissolving the first thing Jack O'Neill thought of was Thor. No one else he knew could just make folks vanish into thin air – and Thor seemed to take an innocently malicious glee in snatching people out of the very worst places. While Jack had been fairly certain the hallway had been deserted, he wasn't sure of it, and even as he was rematerializing the first thing he felt was irritation at just how flippant the damned Asgard were getting.

They materialized in a small room – not the bridge of Thor's ship as Jack had anticipated. It was about 12 foot by 12 foot, and there were no windows, just a door. It didn't really look like a cell, but that was the first thing Jack thought of when he saw where they were.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

She and the others were looking around as well, but none of them had bothered to move.

"Did we have an appointment I forgot about?"

"No, sir."

"I didn't think so." He scowled and looked around the room. "_Thor_!"

The door opened almost immediately, but it wasn't a little gray alien that walked in. It was a man. Dressed in black, he was lean but hardly athletic, tall and had a look of supreriority on his pale long face that made Jack dislike him immediately. Of course, that honestly didn't take all that much, anyways, really.

"No, Colonel O'Neill. Not Thor," he said. His voice was silky and low, almost seductive – if not for the sneer on his face and the arrogance in his voice. "Whoever _that_ is…"

"Carter?"

She knew what he was asking immediately, and Sam hesitated for a moment, concentrating.

"He's not Goa'uld, sir."

Well that was good. He supposed.

"Silence," the man said, his voice still smooth. He walked over towards Jack, and smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile, and Jack didn't respond likewise. "So this is the famous Colonel Jack O'Neill…"

Jack folded his arms across his chest.

"I wouldn't say _famous_…"

The man ignored him, and looked over at Sam.

"Major Samantha Carter…"

Sam didn't reply, either, but the man wasn't even looking at her any more.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson and the big unknown named Teal'c."

"So… you read the guest book at the hotel," Jack said, sarcastically. "Congratulations."

Of course, Teal'c wasn't signed in under _Teal'c_, so he _hadn't_ read the guest book at the hotel for his information, but Jack didn't care. It was a way to get the man talking so they could figure out what he wanted, where they were, and how they were going to get back.

The man sneered again.

"My Master knows who you are…"

"Yeah? Hear that, guys? We _are_ famous. They'll be putting us on a Wheaties box any day now."

Sam smiled, and the arrogance on the stranger's face faded into irritation and outright anger – although he was obviously trying to hide the fact that O'Neill was annoying him.

Jack knew that people who took themselves so seriously hated to be mocked – one of the reasons he did it so often. This guy was obviously no exception.

"My Master wants to speak with you, Colonel O'Neill…"

"Well… who is he? Maybe we've already spoken and he just didn't pass the word on to you…"

"We do not speak his name." The sneer was back.

"Must be pretty hard to call him up, then."

The pale face turned a little red, and again the sneer gave way to poorly hidden anger. This was a man who was not used to people making fun of him.

"You will soon come to fear his name, _Mudblood_."

Sam and Teal'c both frowned, but Jack wasn't looking at them and didn't see it. He was still in the middle of annoying their host.

"How can I fear a name if you don't speak it, sport?" He didn't give the man time to answer – not that he expected an answer. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we start with an _easy_ question? Why not tell me _your_ name? Then we can work our way up to your boss's."

Obviously trying to regain the upper hand, the man smiled, and it would have been a cold smile if he hadn't looked so angry.

"I didn't introduce myself? How rude of me. Lucious Malfoy."

"Lucious Malfoy?" Sam repeated, with a note of scorn and surprise in her voice. Jack turned to her.

"You know him?"

"He doesn't exist, sir," Sam said, looking from Malfoy to O'Neill. "He's a character in a book."

Jack reached out a finger and poked Malfoy before he realized what was happening.

"Don't _touch_ me you filthy-"

"He _feels_ pretty real," Jack said, ignoring the sputtering of the indignant stranger.

"He's a character out of the Harry Potter books, sir."

"Oh for crying out…" Heartily sick and tired of anything Harry Potter related, Jack looked over at the now very red Malfoy, who was obviously trying to figure out how he'd lost control of things. "Why don't you _grow up_?"

The man raised up the walking stick he'd been carrying, and pointed it at O'Neill, his face filled with fury.

"You need to learn some manners, Mudblood. I'll sta-"

Before he could finish, he suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, and his eyes rolled up in his head. Without a sound he crumbled to the floor. Jack had been watching Malfoy, who had had all his attention on O'Neill and Carter and hadn't been watching Teal'c, who had suddenly lashed out and knocked the man senseless with a single blow to the side of the head. The walking stick clattered to the floor as well, and Jack reached out with his foot and kicked it away from the now still form.

He looked at Teal'c.

"Thanks."

"You are welcome, O'Neill."

Daniel looked around, frowning. Certain things were definitely not adding up, but this wasn't the place to discuss them.

"Now what?" He asked.

Jack wished adamantly that he had a weapon, and lacking a gun, he reached down and picked up the walking stick Malfoy had pointed at him.

"Now we find out what the hell's going on." He said, heading for the door.


	18. 18

O'Neill hadn't even made it to the door before Teal'c spoke up.

"O'Neill…"

He turned, looking at the Jaffa, still holding the walking stick in his hand.

"Yeah?"

"Should we not interrogate Mr. Malfoy before we leave him here? To find out his purpose for abducting us?"

Sam hadn't moved, either. She was looking down at the fallen man with an odd expression on her face. Looking up at Teal'c s words, she nodded.

"We definitely should find out who he is, sir. Especially since it obviously wasn't Thor who transported us here – wherever here is."

"He is Lucious Malfoy," Teal'c said.

"That's a character from a book, Teal'c," Sam said, reaching out with her foot and rolling the man over with a single motion. Teal'c had hit him pretty hard, though, and he wasn't coming around any time soon from the looks of things.

"We should tie him up," Daniel said, looking around for something to do just that with. The room was pretty empty, however.

Realizing that they were right about finding out who the guy was, Jack walked back over to them, and looked down at their prisoner.

"He's obviously not Asgard," he said, nudging him with his foot. "Who else has beam me up capabilities?"

"It was a portkey," Teal'c said. "The bags we were handed must have been the devices."

"Portkeys?" Daniel asked, looking at the bag still in his hand. He dropped it. "What's that?"

"It is an ordinary object that is turned into a teleporting device."

"That's something the Goa'uld use that you didn't tell us about?" Jack asked.

"It's from the books, sir," Sam said, almost apologetically.

Jack scowled.

"Teal'c, it's not-"

"Mr. Malfoy called you a Mudblood," the Jaffa said, interrupting.

"Yeah? So?" Jack's scowl didn't fade. "I've been called a lot worse by better than him…"

"What's a Mudblood, Teal'c?" Daniel asked, knowing that it was obviously important to the Jaffa or he wouldn't have brought it up. "Is it from the book, too?" It sounded a lot like _Muggle_.

"A Mudblood is a wizard who is from a non magical family."

"Teal'c." Jack had heard just about as much about the Harry Potter books as he was going to be able to stand. "When's the last time you saw me pull a rabbit out of my hat?"

The Jaffa gave him one of those looks, and Jack sighed.

"I'm not a wizard."

"I did not say you were, O'Neill. It was Lucious Malfoy who did."

Jack sighed again, and turned his attention to the downed man.

"Daniel, check his pockets. See if he has any ID."

"ID?"

Jack shrugged.

"He doesn't look like any alien I've seen. Maybe he's NID or something."

"He is Voldemort's –"

"Teal'c."

Sam interrupted the Jaffa before he could finish the sentence. She was already worried that O'Neill was going to blow his top, and with things already so crazy just then, the last thing they needed was for the Jaffa to continue with his helpful comments.

Teal'c looked at her.

"Just watch him, okay? If he starts to come around, make sure he doesn't do anything."

"O'Neill has his wand. He will not be able to do magic without it."

Sam sighed.

While they'd been talking, Daniel had been checking the man out. And shook his head, looking up at the others as he stood up again.

"He's clean, Jack. He doesn't even have any pockets."

"What?"

Daniel shrugged.

"If we're going to find out who he is or who sent him, we're going to have to ask him."

"There's always the chance that whoever it is is on their way here, too," Sam said. "If we stick around, we might find ourselves outnumbered – and outgunned."

Which wouldn't take much since none of them had guns.

Jack didn't like that thought any more than Sam did, and that pretty much decided them.

"Okay, let's shove Malfoy – or whoever he is – in a closet somewhere and get the hell out of here. We'll figure out where we are, find a phone and call in a little help."

There wasn't a closet in the small room they were in, so they ended up just leaving him in the corner, although Jack kept the walking stick. It was the only weapon they had, after all, and he wasn't going to leave it behind. At least not until they found something better.

He led the way out of the door, which opened into a short hall. Looking both directions, Jack didn't see anyone.

"It's clear," he said. "Stay close."

The others followed him out, and a moment later they were heading down the hall, going in a random direction since Jack didn't have a clue which way to go. The hall turned sharply and then ended with another door, this one closed. When Jack tried it, it wouldn't budge, and he cursed silently under his breath. He didn't like being in the hall like this; they were too vulnerable and there wasn't anything around them that they could use to defend themselves. There wasn't even anything to hide behind.

"Teal'c."

The Jaffa tried the door as well, and when he couldn't get it to open, he simply kicked it with his foot. His leg was far more powerful than Jack's and the door opened with a crash that echoed thru out the hall, and into the room itself. There was a startled yelp, and Jack and the others saw a man jump to his feet in surprise at their sudden entrance.

"Master!"

He was short – really short – and chubby. Balding and with as ugly a face Jack had ever seen, his beady eyes were wide with terror as the four of them entered the room. Looking around for whoever he had shouted for, Jack didn't see anyone in the room besides this guy, and he turned his full attention to him.

"Okay. Who are you and where the hell are we?"


	19. 19

The beady eyes turned shifty, and Jack noticed it right away – and knew he was about to be lied to.

"I'm a friend… a prisoner here, such as yourselves…"

Jack shook his head, not at all amused. It wasn't even a good lie. He looked around the room.

"You've got it pretty good here for a prisoner… what's your name and where are we?"

The room was richly decorated, with paintings on the wall and elaborate tapestries hanging in places that the painting didn't cover. There was a large fireplace with a fire burning merrily in it, and several odd-looking weapons leaning against the wall. Daniel was looking around the room and not at the strange-looking little man, and he noticed something immediately.

"Jack…"

"Not now, Daniel." O'Neill had his full attention on his fellow 'prisoner', who was squirming under his direct stare.

"The people in the pictures are moving…"

"What?"

Jack turned to look, and saw Daniel was right. The portrait above the mantel held a picture of a guy who looked a lot like the Malfoy guy Teal'c had dropped in the small room they'd been in. There were some differences, this guy looked older, and a bit heavier, but the face was the same and the eyes were equally evil looking. And it _was_ moving.

The man had been painted sitting in a chair, and as they watched, he stood up and hurried out of the side of the picture.

"What the-"

"Sir!"

Sam's voice got Jack's attention, and when he turned, he found that the little guy was gone. A movement on the floor drew his eye, and he saw a large rat dodging under the closest chair.

"What the hell!"

"It was that guy, sir," Sam said, and when he looked at her he saw that her face was suddenly pale and her eyes were wide. "He… he just turned into the rat. Right in front of my eyes!"

"What?"

Sam looked around the room, moving away from the chair that the rat was hiding under. No one liked rats, after all.

"He changed into a rat, sir…"

"Carter…"

"I _saw_ it, Jack!"

Carter was definitely looking rattled, now, and Jack frowned, reaching out to take hold of her arm to steady her.

"Easy…"

"It's just like in the books, sir," Sam said, shakily. "The moving pictures, the crazy-"

"Then someone's messing with us," Jack said. "Trying to make us think that-"

"I don't know anyone with the technology to make someone turn into a rat, sir."

"Nor do I, O'Neill." Teal'c, of course, was unflappable. "This is the work of dark wizards."

Jack didn't even bother to correct him. Not that he believed in dark wizards – or _light_ wizards, for that matter – but he had better things to worry about just then.

"Come on, guys, let's get the hell out of here."

He didn't know where the guy went – Carter certainly _seemed_ to believe he turned into a rat, but Jack was more inclined to believe that someone was using smoke and mirrors on them or something, trying to make them believe that the books were coming to life around them. Of course, he didn't have a clue why anyone would bother – and if he found out it was a practical joke by some advanced alien race, there were definitely going to be some heads rolling – but he didn't care to stick around and find out. Practical jokes were never something that Jack was all that fond of.

They headed for the door, and all of them watched their feet – looking for the rat, Jack knew – and every now and then looking at one of the portraits on the wall. All of them had people moving in them, now, watching their retreat, and Jack couldn't help but feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

Before they reached the door, however, it opened with a crash, and the exit was suddenly blocked by a small handful of men. They varied in ages from one guy who looked old enough to be a grandfather many times over to a young man probably Daniel's age. They were dressed in cloaks, robes and other odd-looking garments, wearing expressions that were serious and angry, and Jack saw that all of them were carrying sticks – and had them out and pointed at SG-1.

They pulled up short, but Jack wasn't all that worried. Yeah, there were more of them, but all they had were _sticks_. Jack had _Teal'c_.

Before he could say anything, though, the crowd in the doorway parted, and a furious and very rumpled looking Lucius Malfoy stepped into the room. His cold glare was only for Jack, and he held his hand out in an imperious manner that immediately reminded Jack that he didn't like this guy.

"You have something that belongs to me… give it back."

Jack's gaze followed Malfoy's and he looked down at the walking stick in his hand. It was fairly cool looking, yes, - although the snake head at the top was a little overdone – but hardly worth getting so worked up over.

"This?"

He held it up so the guy could see it, and although Jack wouldn't have thought it possible, Malfoy's face grew even angrier.

"Give it to me, you filthy-"

Recognizing immediately yet another way to anger this man – and Jack couldn't understand why the man rubbed him so wrong so easily – O'Neill gave him a mocking smile.

"Come and get it."

He took the walking stick in both hands and started to draw it down onto his knee, fully intending to break it in half – but it broke apart before he could, and Jack found himself holding a little stick in one hand and the rest of the walking stick in the other. A wand had been hidden in the staff – and even Jack had to admit that was pretty cool.

"_Give it to me_!" Malfoy had lost his temper completely. Reaching out, he snatched a wand from one of the men standing beside him and started to point it at Jack, who replied by dropping the bottom part of the walking stick, and taking hold of the wand in both hands and snapping it over his knee – just like he had the one belonging to the little boy in the elevator at the hotel.

"You forgot to say please…"

Malfoy's face grew white, and then red, and then white again as Jack dropped the pieces of his broken wand on the floor with a clatter. The rest of the crowd seemed frozen by the act, but Lucius exploded. The wand in his hand bore down on Jack.

_"Avada K-"_

"No!"

Startled by the sudden voice – it wasn't a shout although it resonated thru out the entire room – everyone turned, including SG-1 and Malfoy. From apparently nowhere a figure had emerged from the right side of the room, and it was a figure that seemed to exude evil. Tall and completely covered by a dark cloak, the figure approached, and Malfoy dropped the wand in his hand, his fury turning immediately into fear. The others in the group all dropped theirs as well, and where Malfoy showed fear, they showed terror.

"M-master…"

Malfoy's voice had lost the silky smoothness, and was now submissive.

"I _told_ you I wanted him alive, Lucius…"


	20. 20

"H-he _broke_-"

"You are getting into the habit of disobeying me, Lucius," the cloaked figure said, softly – dangerously. "I don't like that. Perhaps so much time left to your own devices has robbed you of your respect for my authority. A lesson is in order, I believe."

Malfoy shrank back, but before he could do anything, the cloaked man moved, his arm – and more importantly, the hand which was suddenly holding a wand – pointing directly at Malfoy.

"_Crucio_!"

Malfoy dropped to the floor, writhing in agony and crying out in pain. The others in the group stepped back fearfully, eyes alternating between the man on the floor and the one who was hurting him.

"Stop!"

Jack didn't like Malfoy – obviously – but he didn't like seeing anyone tortured, either. Although he didn't understand how it was happening this time, he'd seen Goa'uld torturing people, and that rubbed him wrong, too.

The figure in the cloak turned his attention to Jack, and Malfoy sprawled flat on the floor, whimpering.

"You don't approve?"

Jack scowled, and looked at the others, and then back at the guy in the cloak. He ignored the question and decided to ask one of his own.

"Okay. I've seen enough. What the _hell_ is going on here? Who are you?"

The figure reached up and pulled the hood of his cloak back, and it was all Jack could do to keep from taking a step back. The man – at least he was shaped like a man – was pale and incredibly thin, with red, weird-looking eyes and a nose that definitely needed the handiwork of a good plastic surgeon. There was hardly any nose at all, simply slits.

"You probably have heard of me. For I'm told that even the Muggles know and fear my name, now. I am Lord Voldemort."

If he'd been expecting that to make an impression on Jack – and he obviously _was_ – Voldemort was in for a huge disappointment, because Jack didn't know who Voldemort was. Sam did, however.

"He's the main antagonist in the Harry Potter stories, sir," she said, her face pale as she watched the cloaked figure. Not as pale as it _had_ been, though, when she'd seen the man turn into the rat, though, so Jack could tell she was getting her nerves back under control – which was what he expected from someone so cool-headed. "The hereditary enemy of Harr-"

"Do _not_ mention that name!" Voldemort said, his eyes narrowing as he turned his full attention on Carter. "I will deal with the _Potter_ boy in my own-"

Jack stepped between Carter and Voldemort, not liking the way he was looking at her, and wanting the attention back on himself. The narrow eyes regarded him, now, and Jack met that gaze without faltering.

"You've obviously taken a lot of time and effort to make us believe that you're someone you're not… but you're wasting your time. I don't believe in magic. Only tricks. So if you're finished… why not point us to the door so we can get back to the hotel in time for lunch?"

"You don't believe in magic?" Voldemort asked, sneering. "Perhaps because you've never seen any…"

Before Jack had a chance to respond to that, Voldemort had turned his attention to a chair in the corner of the room – the farthest side of the room.

"Come out, Wormtail."

There was a moment's hesitation and then the rat Jack had seen earlier, came slinking out from under the chair, his beady eyes bright and his whiskers twitching quickly.

"Jack here doesn't believe in magic," Voldemort said, ignoring the way O'Neill turned and looked at him at the casual familiarity. "Be so good as to prove to him it exists."

As they all watched with varying degrees of fascination and revulsion, the rat suddenly grew and changed shape, becoming more and more man-like, until a few moments later, the rat had become human once more. Wormtail prudently stayed back from Voldemort's reach, but the dark lord wasn't interested in him just then. He turned back to O'Neill.

"Well?"

Jack had seen a lot in his time with the SGC that he couldn't explain. Heck, he didn't even have to leave the _planet_ to be well out of his element when it came to the unexplained. He had to admit that he'd never seen anyone turn from an animal into a person before, though. But he was used to having things going on around him that he didn't understand, and because of this, he wasn't as taken back by the event as Voldemort had probably expected him to be.

"Impressive."

Voldemort sneered, looking over at Wormtail, who cowed at the glance.

"Nothing about Wormtail is impressive, Jack. He's barely competent enough to be allowed to remain with me – although he does have his uses. I'm sure you know people like that…"

Jack shrugged. He knew lots of people like that, but he didn't want to have anything in common with this man.

"So, you know my name and I know yours… are you going to ever get around to telling us what this is all about?"

The group gathered at the doorway gasped at the impertinence in the question, but Voldemort ignored them, much as he was ignoring the other members of SG-1 and focusing only on Jack.

"I wanted to meet you."

"Yeah? Well, hi."

"You really have no idea what this is all about, do you?" Voldemort asked him, amused.

Jack scowled.

"As near as I can tell it's about someone dressed up like a character in a book, passing himself off as a wizard with a bag of tricks and some kind of illusion doohickey that's designed to make us think your friend over there can turn himself into a rat at will. It's pretty original, I'll admit, but not very amusing."

And it certainly wasn't helping them with the initial problem of Teal'c believing in all this crap – because Jack had to admit it was a _really_ good illusion.

"There's more to it than that, Jack…" And now Voldemort moved, coming to stand closer to Jack, who stood his ground as the cloaked man approached. "I won't bother with trying to convince you what you're seeing is real – we can take care of that later. What it's really about is _you_. And _me_. Little brother."


	21. 21

There were gasps from the assorted group at the doorway, and Malfoy looked like he was going to be sick – which might have been a side-effect of the torture he'd just endured – but Jack ignored them, and the sounds of surprise coming from his own team. His own skeptical nature was still very much in command, and he was, by nature, hard to shock.

"Excuse me?" He asked, his eyebrow doing a fair imitation of the thing Teal'c always did with his. "_Little brother_?"

The man who had named himself as Voldemort smiled, and it was an evil smile.

"Of course you did not know, Jack…" he said, and his voice was just as silky as Malfoy's had been – before Jack had antagonized him into losing his cool. "How _could_ you? No one told you."

"I've _been_ to the family reunions," Jack said, folding his arms across his chest and wondering what the heck the guy was trying to accomplish by saying something so outlandish. "I'm pretty sure I would have remembered seeing you there."

"Master, how could this _be_?" One of the men at the door asked, stunned. "He's a _Muggle_ and you're-"

Voldemort turned towards the group at the door and the man fell silent, shrinking back into the crowd, all of whom were trying to move away from him on the off-chance he was going to be taught a lesson.

Jack didn't miss that, and neither did the rest of SG-1. The guy might be a froot loop, but he was definitely feared by the people around him, and there had to be a reason. Which meant that he couldn't be dismissed too readily.

"Leave us."

They all scampered out of the doorway, and Wormtail couldn't get into the crowd fast enough. Malfoy hesitated, though, and Voldemort gestured to him.

"You may stay, Lucius. But you will keep silent."

"Yes, Master."

Satisfied that he would be obeyed – another thing that Jack didn't miss – Voldemort turned back to Jack and his team.

"You are curious how I know of our relationship while you do not…"

Jack scowled.

"We don't _have_ a relationship."

"Oh, but we do. It's time for a history lesson, Jack."

"This is ridiculous!" Jack had had enough, and while the others were out of the room he and his team outnumbered Voldemort and Malfoy two to one – almost three to one since Teal'c was more than a match for either of the two, as he'd already proven to Malfoy. "We're out of here…"

He headed for the door, more than ready to bully his way past the two, and if he had to, he'd use one of them as a hostage against the good behavior of the other people, who probably hadn't gone all that far away.

"You'll stay and listen," Voldemort said, raising the hand that held the wand.

"Go to he-"

Before he'd even finished the sentence, the impossible happened. One minute he was only a few feet from Voldemort, ready to knock him to the ground if necessary, and the next minute there were ropes coming at him from the tip of the wand. Before Jack could do anything, he found himself neatly tied up, the ropes completely around his body, his arms pinned to his sides and his balance completely shot because his legs were tied as well.

"What the-"

A quick look at the others showed them all in the same position; neatly tied up and teetering.

"Help them sit down, Lucius," Voldemort ordered. "Carefully."

Meaning he didn't want them hurt, no matter what _Malfoy_ wanted to do.

"Yes, Master."

Lucius jumped forward and carefully – far more carefully than he wanted to – helped SG-1 into positions on the floor, with their backs braced against the closest wall. Voldemort came over to stand in front of Jack once more, looking down at him.

"Now… where was I…?"

"You were telling O'Neill of your relationship," Teal'c said, struggling against the ropes that had him tied, but obviously curious about what was going on. Of all of them, he was the least phased by what was going on – of course, he was also the _only_ one who had believed in the people that were now quite obviously their captors.

"Yes…"

Jack scowled at Teal'c, and then looked up at Voldemort.

"We don't _have_ a _relationship_."

"But we _could_ have, Jack," Voldemort said, smoothly. "And we _should_ have. We have much in common, after all. Both of us were sired by a man who had no desire to raise children – only produce them."

"What?"

"My father abandoned my mother – once he found out she was a witch. Then he moved back into his parents' house, ignoring the woman who was to bear his child – and completely unconcerned when she died in childbirth. I was taken to an orphanage – abandoned by my father who felt himself too good to be associated with a witch or her offspring."

There was true hate in his expression, now, but Jack didn't have a clue what any of this had to do with him. Before he could say anything, though, Voldemort continued.

"Little did he know, he, too, carried in his lines the blood of wizards. Far back in his ancestry, a great grandchild of one of the most powerful wizards that ever lived was born without any magic at all – we call those people Squibs, Jack, and they're the lowest of the low in the wizarding world. Mortified, the parents of the child sent him off to live in the Muggle world that he would fit into far easier than the one he'd been born into. And when he grew older, he married a Muggle woman and continued the line – and never told any of them what he had once been part of. So my father sprang from this line, and while the magic has never manifested itself in the people of his lineage, it's always been there – and always will. Magic is in the blood, after all."

"What does this have to do-"

"With _you_?" Voldemort interrupted. "Everything. My father's parents decided that he needed to be sent away for a while – people in the village knew who he was, after all, and they looked down on him for abandoning my mother and leaving me to the orphanage. His parents hated that, because they saw themselves as pillars of the community – and pillars like that could not be tarnished with such scandal. They sent him overseas. To the United States. And there he met your mother."

"What?"

Jack scowled, but again Voldemort didn't let him speak.

"He met your mother, and seduced her, promising her the world if only she would love him. Your mother was as foolish as mine was, and believed him. And found herself pregnant with you. And perhaps this time my father meant to keep those promises – except that his parents sent for him to return to their village where things had now settled down. They were getting older, and wanted him close. Without looking back, your father abandoned you and your mother and left the United States to return to live in the luxury of the large manor he'd been born in."

"You're lying!" Jack said, furious. "My father was a _good_ man. The best."

"The man who _raised_ you was," Voldemort corrected. "Your _father_, however, was a disgrace to the blood that flowed in his veins, and when I returned later and killed him, I made sure he knew it. I also made sure he knew just what he _was_ before I killed him. Imagine, the great-great many times great grandson of Godric Gryffindor thinking that wizards were beneath him."


	22. 22

_Author's note: In response to a review from Pentagon Merlin, at no time did I say that Slytherin and Gryffindor had a child together (I_ have _read the books and know that both are male, thank you). For that matter, I didn't even mention Slytherin. Feel free to actually read the chapter before you go off half-cocked and leave a condescending review. For the rest who might be confused – and I know there might be some (especially if you read that review) Jack's not descended from Slytherin. Voldemort is through his mother's side, but in this story he and Jack have different mothers. (They share the same father)_

_That said, here we go!_

OOOOOOOOO

"Godric who?"

Jack was still completely confused by what was going on – and not just a little angry at hearing crap about his mother and father – and was even more annoyed by the surprised gasps that were coming from not only Carter, but also from Malfoy, who was obviously hearing this story for the first time.

"Gryffindor, sir," Sam said. "Another-"

"Oh, _jeeze_, let me guess," Jack interrupted, looking over his shoulder as well as he could without being able to turn around. "Another character from that stupid book…"

"Yes, si-"

"That foolish woman," Voldemort snarled – and for a moment Jack thought he was talking about Carter. He was about to open his mouth to tell the jerk just how much better and smarter Carter was than pretty much anyone on the planet, but Voldemort continued. "If she would have just kept her mouth shut like she'd promised, then no one would-"

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, interrupting. It was one thing to get a lecture. Quite another to listen to someone babble about something you had no clue about.

Voldemort snapped Jack a look of irritation. Obviously he didn't appreciate being interrupted. Whatever bond it was he felt towards O'Neill, however, reasserted itself, because the annoyance faded.

"Rowling is a menace to the wizarding world, little brother. She should have been stopped after she published the first volume of her History. Instead the Ministry of Magic bungled it – again – and allowed that they'd just –"

"Wait a minute," Sam said, interrupting. "What are you saying? The books are _real_?"

Voldemort scowled at her, and in that moment – even though it seemed impossible – Sam and Daniel both saw what just couldn't be. Voldemort _did_ look a little like Jack. Or Jack looked like him?

"Yes," he sneered. "The books are _real_. The-"

"That's impossible," Sam said.

"If you interrupt me again, I'm going to-"

"Don't threaten her," Jack snapped.

Voldemort turned his attention back to Jack.

"Does that offend you, little brother? I-"

"Stop calling me that."

"But it's true," Voldemort said, walking even closer and looking down at Jack with a speculative gleam in those red eyes of his. "If things had happened differently, little brother, you and I could have-"

"Stop calling me that, damn it! I'm not your _brother_."

"Master," Malfoy's voice was almost as furious as Jack's was. "He can't be your brother! You're the greatest wizard ever born and he's simply a common-"

"Be silent, Lucius," Voldemort snapped. "His blood is mixed, that's true. Wizard from his father and Muggle from his mother. But it's possible that the wizarding blood bred true in him – no one has bothered to test it and-"

There was suddenly a powerful explosion from somewhere outside the door, and the sounds of a scuffle – and more explosions, these more muffled. Cries of surprise, anger, fear and pain were clearly heard, and they were getting louder.

Voldemort turned to Malfoy, who was staring at the door.

"Go find out what is happening."

Without hesitation, Malfoy headed for the door, but before he could open it, it burst open on its own, pieces of the door and frame flying every direction, some of them landing on SG-1, who couldn't move out of the way of the debris since they were tied up.

A figure appeared in the doorway, flanked by several others, and Malfoy fell backwards, scrambling for a wand he no longer had.

"Master!"

Voldemort snarled as he saw the man in the doorway.

"You!"

SG-1 looked at the man in the doorway as well. It was hard to miss him, after all. He was old, but imposing, with odd-looking robes, and white hair that was long and flowing, and a beard that was equally long and just as white. The man emanated power, and the look he gave Voldemort was filled with rage, making Jack glad he wasn't looking at him that way.

"This is forbidden, Tom."

The voice was calm, showing no sign of the fury in the man's eyes. Voldemort didn't even flinch.

"Nothing is forbidden to those who are powerful enough to do them." He raised his wand, and muttered something, and a bright flashing light shot out of the tip of the stick, heading straight for the old man.

Without even changing his expression, the old man flicked his wand out as well, and the bolt of light crashed into some kind of invisible barrier and disintegrated into a shower of sparks before vanishing.

"You'll have to do better than that, Tom," the old man said, raising his wand and pointing it at Voldemort. Before he could say anything, though, Voldemort made a snarling sound in his throat, grabbed Lucius Malfoy by the collar with one hand and made a gesture with his wand with the other. An instant later there was a loud cracking noise – one that sounded vaguely familiar to Daniel – and both men had vanished, leaving SG-1 staring at the empty space they'd occupied only moments before.

"Damn it!"

This was from one of the other men at the door – a dark haired man, who had been standing to the right of the old man, his wand out as well and a look of fury on his handsome face.

The old man reached out and put his hand on the younger man's arm.

"Don't worry, Sirius," he said, calmly. "The Deatheaters are scattered and Voldemort's on the run. Things couldn't be more in our favor right now."

Before the younger man could reply, the old man walked over to look down at SG-1 – all of whom were staring at him with varying degrees of incredibility. Sam because she was pretty sure who this man was supposed to be – even without an introduction. Teal'c because he knew who it was, and Jack and Daniel who were still trying to figure out the light show they'd just seen.

"Hello, Jack," the older man said in a kindly voice. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Jack scowled. He'd had way too crappy a day to be impressed by anything and anyone, now.

"Wait," he said – and he would have held up a hand if not for the fact that they were tied. "Let me guess… you're my… _grandpa_."

The younger man snorted, and there was a definite gleam of amusement in his expression.

"Not even close, Colonel O'Neill," he said, grinning. "This is Albus Dumbledore."


	23. 23

Jack looked at the old guy, who was smiling as well, and then over his shoulder once more.

"Carter?"

She was staring at the old guy, too, but she turned to O'Neill when he spoke up.

"He's-"

"A character out of the books?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest of the living wizards," Teal'c said. "He is described in the Histories as the only person Voldemort is afraid of."

Jack looked from Teal'c back to Carter.

"Good guy?"

"Yes, sir."

"And this Voldemort guy?"

"He's a bad guy, sir."

"Ah."

"He's a son of a-"

"Sirius." Dumbledore held up a hand to interrupt the man standing beside him, and the man called Sirius fell silent, still looking at Jack and the others. "Untie them."

If Jack expected Sirius to come over and untie them, he was disappointed. Instead the man simply raised up his wand and pointed it at each of them, and the ropes holding them so tightly simply fell loose from around them.

"That's incredible," Daniel said, looking down at the ropes as he stood up.

"It is, indeed, magic, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, standing as well.

Jack wasn't as impressed – or maybe he'd just had too many surprises for one day.

"Yeah, well… whatever it is, it's-"

"We have them on the run, Headmaster," A new voice interrupted. And even as she spoke, Jack saw the old woman that he had met in the bar the night before come into the doorway.

"Minerva…"

Sam looked over at him, surprised.

"You know her, sir?"

"We met her last night," Daniel said, pushing his glasses back onto his nose. "She was in the bar…"

Minerva smiled, slightly, and nodded.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Doctor Jackson. And you, too, Jack."

Jack scowled, but it wasn't his annoyed scowl, it was the one that plainly said he didn't know what the heck was going on and he didn't like it.

"Okay…what's going-"

"They got away, Professor," yet another new voice interrupted from the hall, and this time it belonged to a man who was just too big to be believed. Jack looked up at him as he entered the room, and just couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man was easily a foot or two taller than Teal'c, and had to weigh at least twice as much. He was hairy and unkempt, and he looked like some kind of mountain man gone horribly wrong.

"What-"

"Rubeus."

Jack looked over at Daniel with the same look of surprise that Sam had looked at him with.

"You know him?"

"Well… no. I mean… kind of. I met him at the Museum of Flight yesterday. He was-"

"Okay, stop." Jack had had enough. He looked at Dumbledore – who certainly seemed to be in charge – at least everyone was reporting to him. "Who are you?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"What are you?"

"I'm the Headmaster at Hogwarts, which is a school for young wizards and witches."

"What?"

Instead of seeming annoyed at the fact that Jack didn't have a clue what was going on – and was obviously not happy about it – Dumbledore gave him a slightly sympathetic smile.

"I know this is all unsettling, Colonel O'Neill – I _can_ call you that, can't I?"

Jack shrugged.

"Everyone else is."

Dumbledore smiled again at the sound of frustration in O'Neill's voice.

"Let us take you someplace a bit safer, and we'll try to explain."

"Back to the hotel?" Daniel asked.

"No. Hagrid here doesn't fit in all that well with people – and if he were to go to the hotel that the convention is being held at, he'd simply draw far too much attention from the children."

"Yeah…" Jack said, looking at the guy again. "I can see how he'd draw attention to himself…"

"Are you Sirius Black?" Sam asked the man standing beside Dumbledore.

He smiled, and it lit up his handsome face.

"I'm _famous_, huh?"

"You are indeed," Teal'c said. "I have read all about your unwarranted incarceration in the wizarding prison of-"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Sirius said, his expression clouding for just a moment. He turned back to Carter. "Unless _you_ want to, of course…?"

She gave him a hesitant smile, unsure if he was flirting or if he were just being friendly.

"Uh…"

Jack scowled.

"If you don't mind? I'd like to know what's going on."

The man flushed, and turned his attention back to the others, but it was Dumbledore who spoke up.

"Let's go."

He took out an ordinary looking stick – this one looked more like a branch than a wand like the others – and tapped it lightly a couple of times with wand. Then he handed it to Jack, who didn't reach for it.

"What's that?"

"A portkey."

"A what?"

"If you all take hold of it, it'll transport you and your team to a place where we can tal without having to worry about being interrupted."

Jack hesitated.

"Why don't we just talk here?"

"It doesn't hurt, Jack," Minerva assured him.

"I'm not worried about it-"

"Sir, we should probably just-"

"Fine."

With a sigh, Jack reached out and took hold of the stick – as did Sam, Teal'c and Daniel. An instant later, he once again felt something seem to grab him, and he felt himself dissolving. He was getting too old for this crap.


	24. 24

The room they ended up in was a small room with a large desk cluttered with all sorts of interesting objects and at least a dozen portraits on the various walls surrounding them. The people in the portraits – the majority of whom were old men, although there were a few women as well – all gave assorted shouts of alarm or surprise when they materialized, and Jack once more found himself in uncertain territory.

"Where are we?

"From the description in the Histories, I'd surmise we are in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts."

Jack scowled, again.

"They're not _Histories_, Teal'c… they're just…" He trailed off, because he didn't know _what_ they were. For that matter, he didn't know for sure anymore that they _weren't_ histories. "If I find out this is some kind of joke, I swear there are going to be some Asgard heads rolling…"

"Why Asgard?" Daniel asked, curiously, looking around the room and reaching out to pick up a little doohickey off the desk. It belched, and he dropped it with a clatter.

Jack prudently stepped away from the desk, figuring that if something belched, the next thing would probably bite.

"Because the Asgard are the only ones we know of with this kind of transporting technology," Sam said, although it was more of a guess. "I-"

"What the hell?"

O'Neill had backed right up to a very large bird stand. Complete with a very large and colorful bird that was watching him and the others carefully. It was an impressive looking creature, with large, colorful feathers, but it also looked hungry, and Jack stepped away from that, too.

"That must be Fawkes," Teal'c said, stepping closer. "He is a Phoenix."

"How do you know that, Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

The bird ruffled its feathers at the sound of its name, and Jack looked at Teal'c, too.

"What kind of idiot names a bird _Fox_?"

"You're pronouncing it wrong, I think, sir," Sam said, as Daniel went over to look at the bird, obviously intrigued. "There's a _W_ in it."

"Whatever… I guess the old guy and his cronies decided not to show. Let's get out-"

The door suddenly opened, and sure enough, there was the old guy himself. Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at the small group, and came over and sat down behind his desk.

"I see you've met Fawkes," he said in that calm voice of his.

Daniel had turned from the man and was once more looking at the bird.

"It certainly looks like every description of a phoenix that I've ever read," he said, distracted. He started to reach his hand out to actually touch the bird, and Jack scowled.

"Watch out, Daniel. It probably bites."

Dumbledore smiled.

"He won't bite you, Doctor Jackson. Go ahead and touch him. Fawkes is, indeed, a phoenix, and the only one of his kind – as I'm sure you already know."

"The _only_ one?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. "How does he make little phoenixes, then?"

"The new phoenix rises from the ashes of the old," Daniel said, touching the breast feathers of the large bird, gently. "It's long been a symbol of immortality and also to the Ancient Egyptians it was a symbol of the rising and setting of the sun." Daniel frowned, and looked over at the old man behind the desk, but his next words were to Jack. "It's also been said that the phoenix is a servant of Ra, the sun god."

"Ra?"

Jack turned and looked at the old man, suspiciously.

"That's not entirely accurate, Doctor Jackson. The phoenix is _sacred_ to Ra – not a servant to him."

"Daniel?"

Jackson shrugged.

"There's more than one story about the phoenix, Jack. Some of them say servant, and some do, actually, simply say sacred. He could be right…"

"I _am_ right," Dumbledore assured them. "Fawkes is no more a servant of Ra than I am."

"Well, _that's_ reassuring," Jack said, darkly. "Considering I still don't have a clue who you are."

"He is Albus Dumbl-"

"Teal'c," Jack interrupted, holding his hand up. "Just let him answer, okay? Please?"

Teal'c fell silent, and joined Daniel at the stand that the phoenix was perched on, while Jack turned and looked at the old man once more. Dumbledore smiled, and gestured for him to sit down, but Jack shook his head. He'd stay standing, thank you very much.

"As your large friend has already informed you, Colonel O'Neill, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm the headmaster here at Hogwarts, which, as I already told you is a school-"

"For wizards and witches," Jack said impatiently. "Yeah, I was listening. But who are you? And what the hell is going on around here? This is-"

"You've had a rough morning, Colonel. You and your team."

"What's going on?" Sam asked, before Jack could ask it again. "Someone is going to a _lot_ of trouble to make us believe that the Harry Potter books have come to life in front of our very eyes and I-"

"The books are real," Dumbledore said. "For the most part, anyway. There are some embellishments – but I suppose that is true of any writer…"

"The books are real?" Jack repeated, and now Daniel had turned from Fawkes – who had closed his eyes in pleasure at the archeologist's stroking of his feathers – and was looking at Dumbledore with an equally distrustful expression. It was one thing for the crazy old guy to have a bird that happened to look a lot like a phoenix, but it was another for him to say that witches and wizards existed.

"I told you they were a History, O'Neill." Teal'c said.

"They're not a _history_, Teal'c," Jack snapped, taking the whole frustrating morning out on his friend. "They're _books_. Stories. They're-"

"_Quite_ real," Dumbledore said, interrupting. "Please… allow me to explain."

"Oh, that would be nice," Jack said sarcastically. "The problem is, I don't know you, and don't trust you any further than I can throw Teal'c. For all I know, you're some alien trying to take over the planet one gullible kid and his family at a time."

"I'm not an alien, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore said, not at all offended. In fact, he seemed more amused by Jack's distrust than anything. "Nor am I a Goa'uld – as Major Carter can undoubtedly assure you."

Sam stared at him. As far as she could remember, none of them had even mentioned the word Goa'uld. Not where he'd have heard it, anyway.

"How do you-"

"Know about your ability to sense the naquida in a Goa'uld or Tok'ra?" Dumbledore finished – and now Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were all staring at him as well. "Let's just say I know a lot about the four of you and leave it at that…"

"Why don't you answer the question, instead?" Jack said, crossing his arms.

Dumbledore sighed, but didn't seem to feel threatened. Which was too bad, because Jack was at his best when he was intimidating someone.

"Fine. Have a seat, and we'll talk."

Suddenly, where there had only been one chair, there were four, and they all stared some more. Daniel reached out and touched one, and sure enough, it was real.

"How did you do that?" There hadn't been a flashing light as there would have if it had been the Asgard responsible – and Daniel realized that he hadn't seen one of the flashing lights yet that day. He was beginning to believe the Asgard weren't responsible, after all.

"It's a gift I have," Dumbledore said, gesturing for them to sit down. "Please… allow me to explain…"

"This had better be good…" Jack grumbled, and he sat down in his chair, while the others did the same.


	25. 25

"So… where to begin…"

Jack scowled.

"How about starting with telling us who that walking skeleton was…?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"His name is Tom Riddle – although most call him Lord Voldemort. Most prefer not to say his name at all…"

"And he is…?"

"A powerful dark wizard who has become the rallying point for all the rest. He desires power, and is more than willing to destroy those who stand in his way – or those he simply perceives as being in his way."

"Dark wizard, huh?"

"Don't be so skeptical, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore chided, gently. "The wizarding world does, indeed, exist, and you are – whether you like it or not – connected to it by ties you cannot sever."

"You mean Jack really is related to this Voldemort guy?" Daniel asked.

"I'm _not_ related to him, Daniel. He's-"

"Your older half brother," Dumbledore said.

"I'm pretty sure my mom would have told me if I had a brother," Jack said. "Especially an evil wizard brother."

"She didn't know," the old man told him. "And Tom wasn't evil when he was younger – or at least, I didn't see him as such. Although perhaps I _should_ have…"

"So, wait a minute," Sam said, speaking up. "Voldemort really exists?"

"Yes."

"And so does everything else in the Harry Potter books?"

"Most of it, yes. Like I said, there were some embellishments when Rowling wrote them – and I'm certain there will be more if she's allowed to continue writing them." He rolled his eyes, as if the thought of that bothered him.

"But-"

"I don't believe in magic," Jack said stubbornly.

Dumbledore smiled.

"Do you believe in aliens?"

The colonel scowled, unwilling to discuss that, either.

"Maybe."

"And why?"

"Because we've _seen_ aliens," Daniel said.

Jack gave him a hard look, but Daniel just shrugged.

"He knows about the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra, Jack. He probably knows something about aliens, too."

Yeah, that was true, probably.

"That doesn't mean we need to teach him anything he might _not_ know."

"I know far more than you might think, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore said with another smile – and the boundless wisdom in those blue eyes of his made Jack believe him – although he wasn't going to admit it.

"Yeah, whatever. You were telling us about this Voldemort guy."

"Your brother."

"He's _not_-"

"Sir." Sam was already tired of listening to him argue. She wanted to hear more, and knew she wasn't going to as long as Colonel kept arguing. O'Neill turned to her, scowling, and she shrugged. "Let's hear him out."

Sure, it was easy for her to say. Wait until the old goat told her she was related to the rat guy or something. Then she'd be just as grumpy as he was.

"Fine."

"As I was saying, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore continued as if Jack hadn't interrupted. "Voldemort is probably the greatest threat to the wizarding world there is – much like the Goa'uld are to your Muggle world."

"How do you know about the Goa'uld?" Daniel asked.

"How is he threat?" Jack asked, ignoring Daniel's question. "Just wave your wand and make him disappear."

Dumbledore smiled.

"It's not quite that easy, I'm afraid."

"Yeah? Why not?"

"He knows as much magic as I do. He could come right back from wherever I sent him."

"So turn him into a frog or something."

"I thought you don't believe in magic?"

"I thought you _did_?"

"What does any of this have to do with us?" Daniel asked, before the two of them could start verbally sparring. "Why would this Voldemort guy abduct us – I'm assuming he's the one that did it?"

"Indeed." Dumbledore said. "He's interested in Colonel O'Neill, of course. Far more interested in Colonel O'Neill than Colonel O'Neill is in him, obviously. Of course, Voldemort has known of the existence of his little brother for a long time, now, and like the rest of us I'm sure, has wondered if the blood of Godric Gryffindor bred through in him."

"You mean Voldemort thinks Colonel O'Neill is a wizard?" Sam asked, incredulous.

"He may very well be one," Dumbledore said, looking at Jack for a moment as if to see what kind of reaction O'Neill was going to have to that. When Jack's expression didn't change – it was annoyed and stayed that way – he smiled and turned to Sam. "Chances are, however, that he isn't. And even if he were, well… it's far too late for him to learn how to use his powers, now."

"I don't have any powers," Jack said, and now his voice was just plain aggravated. "And stop talking about me like I'm not sitting right here."

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but the danger to you is very great, now, and we have to address it."

"What danger?"

"If Voldemort believes Colonel O'Neill is magical, then he's going to continue to be interested in him."

"Why?" Sam asked, intrigued despite the oddity of the conversation they were having. "You said yourself that even if Colonel O'Neill has powers, he's too old to learn to use them."

"I'm not that old," Jack snapped.

"Because blood calls to blood, Major Carter," Dumbledore said. "If Colonel O'Neill has magical talents, and Voldemort gets control of them, then he can use them – through their blood ties – and Voldemort will gain an advantage that we cannot possibly overcome."


	26. 26

"What kind of advantage?" Sam asked, almost automatically.

"O'Neill will not side with Lord Voldemort," Teal'c said. "There is no point in-"

"He doesn't need Colonel O'Neill to be a willing accomplice," Dumbledore said. "There are ways of making someone do what you want them to without them wanting-"

"You are referring to the Imperious Curse," Teal'c interrupted.

"You've heard of it, I see," Dumbledore said.

"I have read the Histories," Teal'c told him. "I know about the various curses and-"

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked with a scowl. A scowl that was turning into a perpetual one, since he had precious little to laugh about.

"They're talking about the books, sir," Sam explained. "In the book there are three curses that wizards aren't supposed to use on others – the Imperious Curse; which makes you do whatever the caster tells you to do, the Cruciatus Curse; which is a form of torture, and the Killing Curse; which does just that…"

"The Imperious Curse can be fought off, however," Teal'c said – more to Dumbledore than to O'Neill. "All one needs is a strong sense of self – and O'Neill has that."

"We're not sure, however," Dumbledore said, as Jack looked over to Daniel to see what he was thinking about all this. The archeologist caught the look and shook his head, shrugging. He was just as lost as the colonel was. Dumbledore, of course, didn't miss this look, and he sighed. "As much as I am loath to say it, this might be far easier of the two of you had managed to read the books…"

Jack started to say something, but the door opened just then, and Minerva walked in with Sirius on one side of her and the huge, furry guy that Daniel had called Rebeus towering over her on the other.

"Sorry it took so long, Professor," the smaller man said, looking around the room and then flashing a smile at Sam. "We got held up by –"

"It's no problem," Dumbledore said, interrupting. He made a gesture with his wand and a few more chairs appeared in front of his desk. "I was just explaining to Colonel O'Neill and the others why Voldemort is interested in him."

"Pretty crappy thing to hear, huh, Colonel?" Sirius said, coming over and taking a seat next to Jack – which put him near Carter as well. "Finding out your brother is one of the most feared villains in the wizarding world must be quite a shock. Of course, _I'm_ no better off, you know – you should _hear_ stories about my family! Bunch of no good-"

"He's not my brother," Jack said. Again. "Why don't you people-"

"Colonel," Dumbledore said, softly. "I understand that you're having a hard time believing this, and I wish we could break it to you more gently, but there just isn't any way to. But it's true. And you need to be aware of the danger that you're in."

Jack sighed in exasperation and stood up.

"Look. I don't mean to be rude – _especially_ to you, Minerva – but I don't know any of you and you have to admit that this story is pretty wild."

Dumbledore nodded.

"But it's no wilder than if you were some ordinary man who was suddenly being told about aliens that can take over humans as hosts and possess them, is it?"

"How do you _know_ about that?" Jack asked, scowling, and sitting back down again. God, there was nothing he hated more than when people knew things they weren't supposed to know. Especially when they wouldn't say how they knew.

"What else do you know?" Daniel asked.

"We're wizards," Sirius said with a grin. "We know _everything_."

"Sirius…"

The look Dumbledore gave him was a warning, and the younger man had the grace to flush slightly.

"Sorry, Professor."

Dumbledore nodded acceptance of the apology and returned his gaze to O'Neill.

"We know because we have certain advantages that the Muggle world – with the exception of only a few – don't have."

"You can read minds?" Jack asked, sarcastically.

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head.

"Perhaps I should just show you. Otherwise, I have a feeling you will never believe us – and while I do enjoy your company, the day is progressing and we all have better things to do with our time."

He reached for a device on his desk, and touched it.

"What was that?" Sam asked, curiously. She wasn't sure what to make of everything that was going on around them, but it was certainly making for an interesting day, wasn't it? And it wasn't as though these people were threatening them or anything – and they were very convincing, although she hadn't quite fallen for their story.

"A summoning device," Dumbledore said. "But it might take a moment for a response, so I ask you to all please be patient."

Sirius looked over O'Neill at Sam.

"I can turn into a dog, you know? A cute, cuddly dog with a big-"

"Who are you summoning?" Daniel asked Dumbledore, interrupting before Jack decided to take offense at the way his second in command was being flirted with.

There was a flash of bright light in the room suddenly, and an instant later, Thor was standing in front of them. The little alien looked around the room, and his normally unreadable face was suddenly filled with surprise – actually, it was more that his large dark eyes widened – when he saw the members of SG-1 in the room.

"O'Neill…"

Jack found himself speechless – not something that happened all that often – but Daniel spoke up, just as shocked, but able to articulate a little better than Jack, whose jaw had dropped.

"Thor…"


	27. 27

_Author's note: This would have been up sooner if not for the site being down!_

OOOOOOOOO

Dumbledore smiled.

"Good. You two _do_ know each other."

Thor turned his attention to Dumbledore, his expression no more amused than Jack's – and just as surprised as everyone else on SG-1.

"You know that O'Neill and the others are not to be tampered with Albus."

Dumbledore nodded slightly.

"It wasn't my fault, Thor. Voldemort abducted Colonel O'Neill and the oth-"

"Wait a minute," Jack said, interrupting with yet another scowl. "You two _know_ each other?"

Thor nodded – as did Dumbledore.

"Yes."

Jack turned to the old man behind the desk.

"Are you an alien?"

"No more than you are," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I'm-"

"He's as human as you and the others are, O'Neill," Thor assured him, knowing that the way Dumbledore had phrased things would just make it more complicated if someone took it the wrong way.

"And you know him?" Sam asked – before Daniel could.

"I do, yes."

"Is he _really_ a wizard?" Daniel asked.

"Are the Harry Potter books really-"

"Stop!" Jack stood up, frowning at both Sam and Daniel, and then over at Thor and then Dumbledore. "For all we know, he's a Goa'uld, and that's not really Thor, it's just some hologram or something."

Since Daniel was closest to the Asgard, he reached out and poked him.

"He's pretty _solid_…"

Thor turned to look at Daniel, and then looked at Jack.

"I can understand your concern, O'Neill – and I approve of your skepticism."

"Thanks," Jack said, sarcastically. "I'm-"

"I assure you, however, that I am, indeed, Thor."

"Oh, well… if you _say_ you're Thor then you must be," Jack drawled, even more sarcastically than before. "Just like he's really a wizard, and that guy can turn himself into a dog."

"Sirius," Dumbledore said, looking over at the younger man. "Would you-"

"There is a simple way to authenticate my identity," Thor said. An instant later, there was a flash of light, and Jack found himself alone with Thor – on the bridge of the Asgard's battle cruiser.

"I'll be dipped in shi-"

"As you can see," Thor said, calmly. "This is the very ship that you have been on more than once, and there is no way a Goa'uld could possibly recreate it. Feel free to look around and assure yourself…"

He could see that. Jack stepped towards the large view screen in front of him, knowing what he'd see long before he got there. Sure enough, below him was the earth, spinning lazily in the blackness of space, the moon just barely starting to peek out from behind it like a shy child hiding behind its mother.

"What is Dumbledore?"

"He's what your people would call a wizard."

"And he can do magic?"

Thor nodded.

"_Real_ magic?" Jack asked.

The little alien nodded again.

"We should return to your friends," he said. "They will be just as interested as you are in Dumbledore and the others – and might need convincing as well."

Jack scowled, turning from the view of earth and looking at Thor.

"_Teal'c_ doesn't. He's already convinced that those books are real…"

"What books?"

Before Jack could answer, they were surrounded by the bright light and a moment later they were once more in the small office.

Sam and Daniel looked over at him.

"Where-"

"To his ship."

"And?" Daniel asked.

Jack frowned.

"It's Thor."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Are you convinced then, Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack scowled.

"Let's just say I'm a little less skeptical than I was ten minutes ago."

Sam and Daniel both stared at him, and he sat down in his chair once more.

"What has happened here?" Thor asked. "Why have you called for me?"

Dumbledore answered – which was good, because Jack and SG-1 didn't have a clue.

"As I was saying, Thor, the thing we hoped would not occur has. Voldemort has returned, and as expected, made his move towards Colonel O'Neill."

"Is Voldemort really Colonel O'Neill's brother?" Sam asked, looking at Thor.

Jack scowled, but the little alien nodded.

"I have confirmed this myself, Major Carter. They have the same father."

"Tom Riddle…"

"Yes."

"Wait a minute," Daniel said, interrupting. He didn't know anything more about Tom Riddle than Jack did – and didn't care, really. "You know about Thor and the Asgard – and obviously you know about the Goa'uld…"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes."

"Then why aren't you _doing_ something about them? If _you_ can do magic, then you're just what we need to stop-"

"Our magic is limited to this planet," Dumbledore said. "We could not go through your Stargate to another planet and assist you. There we would be of no more use to you than any other person – and far less, because very few of us have any military training."

"But-"

Jack held up his hand to stop Daniel's next question. While he was just as curious as the archeologist was, there was a better way to get the information they wanted.

"Why don't you start at the _beginning_?" Jack suggested. "I'd like to know just how you guys know each other…" And that might help explain to him what the heck was going on around there.


	28. 28

"It's very simple, O'Neill," Thor said. "As you are well aware, the Asgard have been watching your planet for countless years. While the wizards have been able to hide their abilities from the rest of the population of your planet – with some exceptions in the medieval times – they were unable to hide those abilities from the Asgard who had been watching. We found them, and watched them as they evolved from hedge witches and wizards into a group with a fair amount of talent – which grew of course, as those with the ability at magic married others with the same ability and they learned to use those abilities with more ease."

"And eventually, one of the witches – Micris – caught on to the Asgard who was watching her, and exposed him to the rest of the wizarding world," Dumbledore added with a slight smile.

Thor turned to the old man, as if he hadn't exactly planned to announce that, but nodded.

"The Asgard in question underestimated those she was supposed to be watching, and grew careless. Now that our own secret was out, we had to come to an accord with the wizard world."

"So you both decided to keep your presence from the regular humans?" Sam asked, avoiding calling them Muggles.

"Correct." Thor said. "We were, of course, worried that the wizards would eventually decide to take dominion over the people on the planet who had no powers-"

"And we, of course, were worried that the Asgard were aliens intent on taking over the whole planet," Dumbledore added. "So we both agreed to continue hiding our existence from the Muggles."

"We still watched the wizards," Thor said. "Informing them of the things they might need to know about life outside of their own planet – although there was nothing they could do to help with the growing Goa'uld threat."

"And four of the more powerful wizards and witches got together and decided that maybe it was time to start training more people with the talent to use their abilities better," Dumbledore said. "And they started the first of the great wizard schools."

"Hogwarts," Teal'c said.

Dumbledore nodded.

"The thought was originally that we might need an army of witches and wizards should the Asgard prove to be enemies – or if the Goa'uld eventually found the Earth."

"My God…" Sam said, softly, amazed at what she was hearing.

Jack wasn't so impressed.

"Well, if you're building an army of wizards, why aren't they helping us?"

"Yes," Daniel added. "Even if your magic doesn't work offworld, why aren't you helping with logistics – moving equipment or troops or personnel to-"

"The Goa'uld threat is relatively new to the planet," Dumbledore said, looking at Daniel and Jack. "We have a bigger problem on our hands just now."

"Voldemort." Sam guessed.

Minerva flinched at the very sound of the name, but Dumbledore simply nodded.

"He is a threat to wizard kind and Muggles alike – and we must devote our energies to fighting him now that he has returned. Besides," he added. "Earth has her Champions in the battle against the Goa'uld, and doesn't need us."

He looked at them pointedly.

"If we can keep Voldemort away from Jack, here," Sirius added.

Jack scowled.

"Why hasn't Voldemort gone after Jack before?" Daniel asked, curiously, looking over at Jack.

"He was unable to until very recently," Dumbledore said. "Although he's a powerful wizard – maybe the strongest ever born – he has managed to run into a few difficulties in recent years."

"Harry Potter," Sam said. "He was almost killed the day he attacked Harry Potter and the curse was turned on him."

"Yes. Many thought him to be dead – although most of us did not dare to believe it – and now we have been proven correct. Through a very old spell, he has managed to return again, and once he consolidated his power structure once more, he went looking for Colonel O'Neill – obviously planning on finding out if O'Neill carries any latent wizarding abilities."

"Does he?" Daniel asked.

"I'm not a wizard, Daniel," Jack snapped. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"We don't know," Dumbledore admitted. "But we've done our best to keep Voldemort away form Colonel O'Neill – just in case he does."

"How have you done that?" Sam asked.

"We put charms on the area around your SGC – to keep him or his followers from simply appearing there and snatching him – and put more of them on his house. No wizard with ill intent can approach O'Neill while he is in Colorado – and obviously when he's offworld, none of us – including Voldemort – have any power to try and get to him there."

"Then how did he manage to-"

"We were in Seattle," Daniel said. "I suppose their safety net can only extend so far…"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Once we realized you were heading for the convention, several witches and wizards went as well – to keep an eye out for Voldemort or one of his Deatheaters."

"How did you know they were going to be there?" Sam asked.

Dumbledore smiled.

"Who do you think is responsible for the convention in the first place?"

"Voldemort is?" Teal'c asked, surprise visible on his expression.

"Indeed," The old man agreed. "Jack O'Neill is not the only person who has descended from a witch or wizard and could hold magical abilities – although he is the only one we can find who is related to Voldemort. Well aware of this, and playing on human responses as he does so well, Voldemort arranged for the knowledge of the wizarding world to leak out – to the worst possible source. A writer."

"You're talking about J.K. Rowling," Sam guessed.

"Yes. She learned of it through a fellow writer – this one a witch – and was told the story, and proceeded to write the books that have become the bane to most of the wizarding world."

"Rita Skeeter didn't realize the can of worms she was opening when she told-"

"I know, Minerva," Dumbledore said. "And I realize she was under compulsion to do it – but it doesn't make it any easier for us."

"She probably wasn't under any curse," Sirius said, darkly, scowling. "She likes causing strife and discord…" He noticed Sam watching him, and shrugged. "it sells more papers that way."

"What possible good could these books have for this Voldemort guy?" Daniel asked. "He's a wizard, too, right? Wouldn't that make him just as much a target for the people who found out about him?"

"He believed – and probably correctly – that those with latent talent might eventually end up at the conventions that would inevitably spawn from the books. When he found these talented people, he would be able to convince them – through the use of the imperious curse – to join his band of followers."

"And he'd teach them to be dark wizards?" Teal'c asked.

"Most likely," Dumbledore said. "Eventually, he'd have an army of them, and even half-trained, they'd still pose a threat to us."

"But-"

"He didn't, however," Dumbledore interrupted. 'Count on the creativity that most writers use. While Rita Skeeter told Mc. Rowling the story of the wizards – and of Voldemort himself – Rowling took the story in a different turn, actually making Voldemort out to be the evil conniver he truly is – which has managed to help us to some extent."

"No one wants to go to the dark side," Jack said.

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to look confused.

"No one wants to be evil," Sam translated.

"Most people do not, correct. When the name Voldemort comes up, now, even Muggles shy away from it – or connect it with evil – and that will help some of them fight the curse if it is actually put on them."

"Of course, we don't allow that to happen," Minerva said. "We know who the Deatheaters are, and we are at the convention as well – watching for them." She smiled at Jack. "And, of course, watching you."

Well… _joy_.


	29. 29

_Author's Note: Harry and Jack aren't related in this, and Harry's not descended from Gryffindor (as far as I know) so he's not related to Voldemort, either (in my story, anyways – I don't know what Rowling has planned in the future, she never asks me)_

_I also noticed that in my beginning disclaimer I said I wasn't going to use the original characters from the book, but I've obviously changed my mind since then, eh?_

OOOOOOOOOO

"So where does that leave us?" Sam asked, curiously. "We're going to end up looking over our shoulder every minute if we have to worry about Voldemort going after Colonel O'Neill."

"As already stated," Dumbledore said, "You have no reason to be concerned about Voldemort at your SGC or while you are working." His eyes were serious, and there was more than a hint of respect in them as he looked at the members of SG-1. "I daresay you have enough to worry about there without worrying about him as well."

Sam started to say something, but Dumbledore continued before she could.

"What we'd like to do, since we have him here, is to test Colonel O'Neill for magical abilities so we can-"

"I don't _have_ any magical abilities," Jack snapped, tired of being spoken about like he wasn't there. Not to mention, he was still unhappy about all the sudden information being thrown at them. Jack preferred things to be nice and simple – as much as possible, anyways – and things had definitely gotten _way_ out of hand since he woke up that morning.

"There's one way to find out for certain," Dumbledore said, standing up.

"Yeah?" Jack asked, with a trace of sarcasm. "How?"

The old man walked over to a shelf and pulled down a scrap of cloth. Which he handed to Jack, who realized it wasn't a rag like he'd originally thought – it was some kind of ragged hat.

"Is that the Sorting Hat?" Sam asked, looking at it.

"It is, indeed," Dumbledore said with a smile for her before turning to Jack, who was looking at the thing with a bit of distaste.

"What does it do?" Daniel asked.

"It sorts new students into their houses," Dumbledore said. He could easily tell which two among the group in front of him had read the books and which ones haven't, because Daniel and Jack were both looking confused, and Teal'c and Sam were both looking interested.

"The four houses here at the school," Sirius explained, noting Jack's confused look.

Like that explained anything.

"Just put it on, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore requested, sitting back down.

Jack scowled, and looked down at it.

"I'll pass, thank you."

"It won't hurt," Minerva assured him.

"It's pretty dirty," Daniel said, reaching out and touching the ratty cloth.

"It's very old," Dumbledore explained. "Please, Colonel O'Neill." He gestured at the hat once more, and Jack sighed, and put the thing on, unsure what to expect. It slipped down over his ears, covering his eyes, and he sighed.

The damned thing didn't even fit.

_I'm not supposed to fit._

He made a soft noise of surprise at the voice he suddenly heard in his head, and reached up and pulled the hat off, staring at it.

"What happened?" Daniel asked, quickly, alarmed.

"I don't know… It-"

"Spoke in your mind," Dumbledore said.

Jack looked at him.

"Yeah."

"It's supposed to do that," he said, smiling. "Don't be alarmed." He gestured for O'Neill to put the hat back on, and Jack scowled. He didn't like voices in his head – that just wasn't normal, right? And he sighed.

"Fine…"

He put the hat back on, and once more it slipped down over his eyes.

"Are you there?"

Somehow he knew that the others wouldn't be able to hear him speaking – although he couldn't say how he knew it, or how it worked.

_It's magic, Colonel O'Neill_, that same voice said in his head. It held a touch of amusement, and a little awe as well.

"I don't believe in magic."

_I know. I can see that in your mind. There aren't very many things that you_ do _believe in, are there?_

"No, not really."

_But those you do believe in, you cling tightly to…_

"Are you _supposed_ to be psychoanalyzing me?" Jack asked it, impatiently. He didn't really like the thought of having anything so intimately in his mind.

The voice actually chuckled.

_I'm just trying to get to know you better. I've waited a long time for this meeting, and you certainly don't disappoint. You're a remarkable man, Colonel O'Neill._

"But not magical."

_No. You're not magical. But you are the great-great and many times great grandson of Godric Gryffindor – in case there was any doubt in your mind about that._

"I couldn't care less," Jack admitted.

_I know._

Suddenly the two of them seemed to part from the close contact, and Jack knew that whatever he said now would be heard by everyone once more.

"He's not magical," the voice said – and this time it was outside of his head.

Jack took the hat off, and looked at it with a lot more interest than he had when he put it on. Suddenly the fact that it was ragged and old didn't seem to matter quite so much.

"I told you," he said, proving he wasn't above saying I told you so when the opportunity presented itself.


	30. 30

While Jack was busy gloating over being right, Daniel was staring at the hat in his hands. After all, even though the thing had spoken in Jack's mind – which Daniel wasn't aware of, of course – the archeologist had just seen a rip in the hat open up, and the thing had actually spoken to them! Aloud. Just like a person, in a deep and clearly distinguishable voice.

"Did you _hear_ that?" He asked the others, reaching over and taking the hat from O'Neill.

Sam hadn't been quite as surprised as Daniel. Once she had started to believe that the whole Harry Potter books coming to life thing was real – and it was hard not to believe it considering what she was seeing and having Thor right there to authenticate it – she had an advantage over Daniel and Colonel O'Neill, because she knew what to expect. While it had been remarkable to see and hear the hat say something, she knew that it was supposed to talk, and hadn't been as astounded as Daniel had been.

"Yeah, it said I wasn't magical – just like I-"

"It _spoke_," Daniel said, turning the hat upside down and looking inside it, obviously searching for some kind of microphone or something.

"Put it on your head," O'Neill suggested. "It'll talk inside your mind."

"We have heard what we needed to hear," Dumbledore said with an amused smile at the surprise the two men were exhibiting. "Word will undoubtedly leak to Voldemort that you aren't magical –"

"How can you be so sure of that?" Sam asked, curiously.

"Because _we'll_ do the leaking," Sirius said with a grin.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said. "Once Voldemort finds out that the Sorting Hat has proclaimed you to be a Squib, Colonel, he'll most likely leave you alone, since you're of no use to him."

"A what?"

"But you can't be sure of that," Daniel said, looking up from the hat.

"No. Which is why we'll leave the protections on Colonel O'Neill in place."

"Well… _joy_."

Dumbledore smiled at the sarcasm in O'Neill's voice.

"You haven't noticed them before, Colonel, I'm sure you won't notice them now."

Jack scowled.

"I didn't _know_ about them before."

"And if Voldemort _does_ come after him…?" Daniel asked.

"He's not going to," Sirius said, confidently. "He's going to have a lot more to worry about than Jack here."

"Like what?" Sam asked, curiously.

"The Order of the-"

There was a knock on the door of the office suddenly, and everyone turned just in time to see the red-haired man that O'Neill had met that morning in the hotel when he'd been talking to the Harry Potter kid. A kid who Jack had to admit just might actually be the same Harry Potter kid that the books were about – since he was with this guy.

"Professor," Arthur Weasley said, flashing a look at Jack and the rest of SG-1 as he entered. "We found this…"

In his hand he held the broken remnants of the walking stick that Jack had broken.

"That belongs to Lucius Malfoy," Sam said, recognizing it as easily as O'Neill and the others did. "He was the one who-"

"He was in your abduction," Dumbledore finished, nodding. "Yes, we know. We didn't catch him, however."

"But we _will_," Weasley said. It almost seemed as if there was some kind of personal animosity between Malfoy and Weasley – although Jack couldn't have imagined or even tired to guess what it might have been. Carter, on the other hand, knew exactly, but she didn't mention anything – nor did Teal'c.

"Arthur," Dumbledore said, waving a hand towards SG-1. "May I introduce you to Colonel Jack O'Neill and the rest of his team? This is Major Samantha Carter, Docto-"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c," Arthur Weasley said, smiling. "I know who all of you are, of course – although it's a privilege to finally have the opportunity to meet you and see what you actually look like. I must say, we're all very impressed by the work you've been doing with the Stargate and the Goa'uld…"

"You know about that, too?" Daniel asked.

Which explained to Jack the reaction the man had had earlier that day when he'd introduced himself. He'd obviously heard of him – apparently he and the others actually _were_ famous, at least to these folks – but had never seen a picture of him.

"Many of us do," Weasley said, nodding.

"Did you catch any of the guys that started this whole mess?" Jack asked, already tired of being admired.

"The house they were holding you in was filled with secret passages and trapdoors," Weasley said, apologetically. "We had them running, but they eventually got away."

"It doesn't matter, though," Minerva said. "We know who most of them are already, so there aren't any surprises." She reached out and took the other half of Malfoy's broken wand. "This is quite a blow for Lucius Malfoy, though. Who had the audacity to break his wand?"

"_O'Neill_ broke it." Teal'c said. "Malfoy did not take it well."

She smiled at the Jaffa before turning to Jack.

"Why do I get the feeling that is an understatement?"

O'Neill shrugged, trying to look modest and failing. He had to admit, he'd enjoyed the shocked indignation and anger on Malfoy's face when he'd broken that stick.

"Teal'c's good at understatements," he told her. "And _I'm_ ready to leave."

He'd seen enough, and heard enough, and he wanted to get back to his calm everyday routine of dealing with Goa'uld and Jaffa and allies that weren't all that great at being allies. Present company included, he decided when he looked at Thor.

"Why don't you beam me and the others back to the SGC?"

"We can't leave the convention, sir," Sam said. "At least, we have to go back and get our things and check out of the hotel. People will wonder, otherwise."

Bah.

"Fine. Beam us back to the hotel."

"I would like a tour of the school," Teal'c said. "Since we are here, and it is unlikely we will ever get another opportunity…"

"Me, too," Sam said, quickly, looking apologetically at Jack.

"What school?" Daniel asked.

"I'd be happy to give them a quick tour, professor," Sirius said, just as quickly as Sam had. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? Since the kids are on holiday and most are gone?"

Dumbledore looked as if he was going to object, but he eventually shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Perhaps it would be good for them to have a chance to see what they-"

"Hey. I want to go _home_."

"If you're not interested in the tour, Jack," Minerva said, still holding the piece of Malfoy's wand. "I'd like a chance to have a word with you, if I may…?"

He scowled, but the pleading look in Sam's expression – _and_ the knowledge that he was a jerk to her earlier and this would be a good way to make up for it without even having to apologize for it – made him shrug.

"Fine. Just don't lose them."

Sirius smiled and stood up, offering Sam his arm.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"_Any_ of them," Jack said, making sure his point came across. He didn't want Daniel and Teal'c lost on this tour just so Sirius could be alone with Carter.

"Of course."


	31. 31

Seeing that he was no longer needed, Thor excused himself and left with the typical brilliant flash of light.

"Don't be gone too long," Dumbledore told the rest of them as everyone got to their feet and headed for the door.

They found themselves in a hallway – once they'd descended a very impressive stairwell – and Jack looked around, curious despite his intended nonchalance.

"Come on you guys," Sirius said, gesturing for the others to follow him. Not only did Teal'c, Daniel and Sam go with him, Arthur Weasley and the giant hairy guy went, too. As they vanished around a corner, Jack looked at Minerva curiously.

"Let's go to my office, Jack…"

"Sure."

As they walked, though, Jack couldn't help looking around a bit more, and he also couldn't stop himself from asking questions. The place was impressive, after all, and there were people moving in all the pictures they were passing.

"What's with all the pictures?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking at the one he was pointing at. One that showed a knight in some ancient looking armor who was waving and shouting at them – although they weren't close enough for Jack to hear what he was yelling.

"Are they videos?"

"What's a video?"

"Are they _supposed_ to move?"

She smiled, understanding what he was asking.

"Yes. I realize it's not normal in your world for the people in the pictures to move, but here, it's _quite_ common. It has to do with the developing – or with the kind of paint used if it's a painting."

"That's _nuts_..."

Her smile didn't fade since she knew he hadn't meant it as an insult, merely a way of vocalizing his interest.

"Many of the children here would be just as astonished by a picture that didn't have moving people in them."

"Really?"

"The ones from wizarding families don't always have contact with the Muggle world, I'm afraid."

"You get kids here from non magical families?"

She nodded, and opened a door for him, gesturing for him to precede her into the room.

Obviously an office, this room was dominated by a large desk and several portraits of what had to be witches and wizards – because some of them were changing themselves into other animals; horses, dogs, birds, goats, and there was even one guy in a bright purple cloak who seemed to be vanishing completely until Jack got close enough to realize that he'd been turning himself into a little lizard.

"We get several students from non magical families here every year, Jack," she told him as he sat down in a chair she pointed to, and then went to the other side of the desk and sat down as well – in a large, overstuffed chair that looked like it should be sitting in front of a TV, not in some office. "Which is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. Biscuit?"

She offered him a tin of cookies, and Jack shook his head.

"Only with gravy, thanks."

With a wave of her wand, a pot of tea suddenly appeared on her desk, and Minerva poured herself a cup, and then pushed it close to O'Neill in case he wanted some.

"I don't know how to bring this up, Jack…" she said, stirring a cube of sugar into her tea and not looking at him for a moment.

"That bad, huh?"

She looked at him, now, and shrugged, and he couldn't read the expression in her eyes.

"When we first found out about you – several years ago – some of us were sent to check on you – to find out more about you, maybe learn what kind of man you were. To see if you were the kind of person that he who must not be named might find an ally in…"

"He who must not be named?" O'Neill repeated.

"I'm sorry. _Lord Voldemort_. Many wizards and witches do not speak his name – myself included most of the time. It's considered bad luck."

"Ah." Jack leaned back in the chair, and shook his head. "And were you one of those sent to look me up?"

Minerva nodded.

"I was, yes."

"_And_?"

"And we were impressed by what we saw. _I_ was impressed by what I saw. A family man, with a wife and son, who was obviously trying very hard to be good at both being a father and a husband – and a man who was _very_ proud of his son."

Jack felt an ache in his chest at the reminder of all he'd had – and had lost – and Minerva reached out and touched his hand, softly, her eyes filled with sorrow and sympathy.

"I know this is painful for you, Jack, but there's something you should know."

"What's that?"

He couldn't think of anything that was so important that she had to bring up such old, and dreadfully painful memories.

"_You_ might not be magic, but your son Charlie most _definitely_ was."

"What?"

"We saw it immediately – looking for the talent for witchcraft in young people is something that I can do very well – and when someone uses magic, even someone untrained, we can all feel it to varying degrees - something to do with the nature of the ability, I understand. When we went to check on you and saw your son, we all knew he had the potential to be a wizard – and we informed Professor Dumbledore. It was one of the reasons we were so certain that you, yourself, had to be magical as well – although it's quite common to find magical children coming from completely non-magical families, your family is far from non-magical, at least in bloodlines."

Her tea forgotten, Minerva shook her head.

"In a few years – when he was a little older – we had planned to send a letter to you and your wife, explaining to you that he had talent, and ask you to allow him to attend this very school to learn to use that talent."

Jack couldn't help the sting of tears in his eyes, and wondered why she was telling him this. It wasn't something he needed to know – and not really even something he believed.

"If you were watching then you know that…" he trailed off, unable to even say it, and Minerva once more put her hand on his.

"I was watching you – although I _wish_ I had been watching that day! But you need to understand something, Jack. You've always blamed yourself for what happened to your son, and you've been wrong…"

"_I left my gun out_!"

Now the tears were falling, and Jack brushed them away, angry with himself as he always was when he thought of that dreadful day. It had been all his fault. Everything that had happened had been his fault.

"Charlie _wanted_ it, Jack," Minerva said, softly. "Even if you hadn't left it out – even if you'd have locked it in a safe and buried it under a ton of rocks – he _still_ could have gotten to it. Your son was an untrained wizard in the making, and he was already intelligent enough to understand that he had abilities that you didn't know about. He would have gotten hold of that gun that day no matter what you did to prevent it."

"You don't _know_ that…" Jack said, shaking his head. "You-"

She stood up, and leaned over the desk, taking his chin in her hand and forcing him to look at her. Suddenly he didn't see just an old woman with a gleam of good humor in her eyes. He saw a witch. A woman who had as much force of personality as anyone he'd ever met – maybe _more_ than anyone he'd ever met – and she was looking at him with a completely unwavering gaze that was filled with knowledge he'd never share in and a wisdom he'd never understand as long as he lived.

"I _do_ know it, Jack. _I know it_. What happened _wasn't_ your fault. It was simply an accident that no one could have seen coming – and that _you_ never would have been able to prevent. A horrible loss, but not your doing."

He could see the truth in her eyes, in her expression. She had his chin in a grip that was far stronger than he ever would have believed her capable of, and Jack was forced to look her in the eyes far longer than he wanted to – but long enough for him to know that she was telling him the truth. With a strangled cry, he jerked his head away and buried it in his arms. And cried like a baby as Minerva came around the desk and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him what little comfort she could as he wept for the loss of his son once more.


	32. 32

"This place is _amazing_…"

Sirius smiled with pride – although he had absolutely nothing to do with the building of the castle.

"It's the largest of the wizarding schools – and has produced more than its share of famous wizards."

"Such as Lord Voldemort?" Teal'c asked.

Sirius made a rueful face, and Sam couldn't help but smile – trust Teal'c to puncture that proud little bubble.

"Well, yes. Him, too."

"Why are there so many staircases?" Daniel asked, to draw attention from Teal'c's question. He didn't even know who this Lord Voldemort guy was – aide from the fact that he was Jack's brother and some kind of evil villain – but Sam was right. The place was amazing.

"We're on a mountain side," Arthur Weasley said, glad for the change of subject. "Instead of sprawling the building outward – like they might have done had it been on a plain or in a valley – they built _up_ – and that means staircases."

"With towers and the works?"

Weasley smiled.

"Yes."

"How many students do you have here?"

Weasley shrugged.

"I'm not a teacher here, I'm afraid. I can't answer that."

"You're not?" Daniel asked. "What do you do, then?"

"I work with the Ministry of Magic – the people who are our governing body, so to speak. To be precise, I work as a sort of liaison between my people and yours – although the Muggles never know about the work I do."

Which didn't tell them anything, although Sam was too polite to say it. She knew what he did, because she had read the books. Poor Daniel didn't have a clue and Sam knew it – and could see it in his expression even if she hadn't. Sirius noticed as well.

"You haven't read those books, have you, Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel flushed slightly, and shook his head.

"Um… no."

"Well, you're not missing much, really…" Sirius said smiling and heading for the closest staircase. "It doesn't even mention me until the third book! Can you believe that?"

Daniel frowned as they headed up the stairs – and grabbed the rail when the staircase under them suddenly began to move.

"Are you a teacher here?"

Sirius laughed and shook his head, stopping them with a gesture until the stairwell finished its move.

"Actually I'm an escaped murderer…"

"It was a frame up," Sam said quickly. "He didn't _really_ kill anyone."

"I _should_ have, though," Sirius said, darkly, looking over at them. "If I would have known what was going to happen, I would have-"

"It is impossible to foresee such events," Teal'c said. "You should not blame yourself for what happened."

"What happened?" Daniel asked, curiously.

"It's a long story," Weasley said, taking Sam's hand when a step suddenly disappeared under her foot.

"Well… this is a pretty big place…" Daniel said, jumping over the missing stone. "We should have time while you guys give me the grand tour…"

"True." Weasley agreed. As they headed down one of the long, dark halls, he started to tell Daniel – and Sam and Teal'c to some degree – a little about the actual history behind the books.

OOOOOOOOOO

It was a long time before Jack was able – and willing – to lift his head from his arms, and Minerva didn't rush him. She'd been well aware that what she was telling him was going to possibly upset him – she'd been watching him when his son had been alive, and knew how much he'd loved the boy. And how devastated he'd been when he'd died.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she said, softly, handing him a tissue that materialized out of nowhere as soon as he lifted his head. "I don't mean to rekindle painful memories."

He nodded, but didn't say anything, his eyes red and filled with grief. A moment later she handed him a small glass with an inch of whiskey in it.

"Drink this."

He didn't even argue. He just took it and drank it, and felt the alcohol loosen the tight knot that had formed in his chest. The two of them were silent for another long moment, and finally Jack sighed.

"Are you sure about this?"

She nodded, but he wasn't looking at her and didn't see the motion.

"Yes, Jack. There's no doubt at all. Charlie definitely had magical abilities – you can ask Professor Dumbledore if you doubt my word – and there's no reason to believe that he hadn't used those powers before, and would again."

"I could have stopped him…"

She shook her head.

"You couldn't have. If anything, it's more my fault that your son is dead than it is yours. Had I been there that day, I _could_ have stopped him. _You_ wouldn't even have known what was happening."

Now there was just as much guilt in her voice as there was in Jack's, and he heard it. And shook his head.

"He was a stubborn little kid…" Jack said, and there was so much love in his voice as he'd said it that she felt a sting of tears. "He might not have listened to you, either."

"I'm very good at persuading stubborn children. I do it all the time, after all."

He looked at her, now, and sighed again, holding out the glass. A moment later it refilled itself.

"That's handy," he said, softly.

She gave him a slight smile.

"I wouldn't advise any more of it…"

He snorted.

"The first one was for shock… this one's _medicinal_."

He downed the whiskey, and leaned back in his chair, still deep in thought – although the grief was easing.

"Tell me about your son, Jack," Minerva said, sitting on the edge of her desk and handing him the plate of cookies once more.

This time he took one, although he didn't actually eat it.

"You probably know as much about him as anyone…"

"But I want to hear it from you," she said. Besides, it would be good for him to talk it out, and she knew it. Even if Jack didn't.

He shrugged, and started talking.


	33. 33

By the time they'd wandered the castle for an hour or so, Sam was ready to call a halt to the tour. She was tired of stairs, and none of them had had any breakfast that morning, and her stomach was growling. Daniel was ready to quit as well – even though it was obvious he was even more impressed by the place than Sam was.

As they headed back to Dumbledore's office, Sam mentioned that they hadn't had any breakfast, and Rubeus immediately invited them to his little cottage for a quick pick me up – as he called it.

"Well… I don't know…" Sam said, reluctantly. "We should probably be getting back to Colonel O'Neill… he's-"

"He'll come looking for you when he's ready," Sirius said, smiling. He wasn't in any hurry for the tour to end, either. "Come on, Hagrid makes the best treats – and you haven't even seen the castle grounds, yet."

"The Histories tell that Hagrid does not make appetizing snacks," Teal'c said.

"Who's Hagrid?" Daniel asked.

"Me." The giant, hairy guy said, looking surprised at the question.

Daniel frowned.

"I thought your name was Rubeus?"

"That's my _given_ name. My surname is Hagrid – most everyone calls me that."

"Oh."

"Don't believe everything you've read in those books, Teal'c," Arthur said to the Jaffa. "Some things she wrote are simply to make a better story. Authors do that all the time, you know? Hagrid's cooking is really very tasty."

"Come on," Hagrid said, gesturing for them to follow him towards the great doors they had passed when they'd started the tour. "I'll introduce you ter Fang."

He headed for the door, but Daniel held back, looking worriedly at Sirius and Weasely.

"_Fang_?"

"Hagrid's dog," Arthur told him with a smile. "Don't worry, he's not as mean as he looks."

"Uh huh."

Sam looked at Sirius.

"You can change into a dog?"

He smiled.

"Wanna see?"

Sam nodded.

There was a look of concentration on Sirius' face for just a moment, and an instant later he was suddenly changing right before their eyes. It took only a moment, and there was a large black dog standing in front of them, wagging his tail and looking up at her cheerfully.

"Wow."

Daniel was staring at the dog in amazement – more surprised than the other two, although they were just as impressed. He knelt down and the dog came over to him, sniffing him and acting just like any other dog might.

"That's amazing," Sam said as Daniel ran his hands through the dog's fur for just a moment – checking to see if he really was a dog. After a moment of allowing this, the dog backed up a step or two, and changed back into the good-looking man.

"Impressed?" He asked, smiling at Sam.

"Yeah."

Sirius preened just a little, and Daniel couldn't help but roll his eyes as they all headed for the door to follow Hagrid. Yeah, sure. The guy could turn into a dog. It was impressive, but hardly earth shattering. She could do better.

The outside of the castle was just as impressive as the inside. They found themselves on a very green, very steep mountain, with a view that was absolutely amazing, and a lake off to the left that was as clear as the blue sky above them. Off to the right was a forest – Sam was pretty sure this was the Forbidden Forest, but she didn't ask, and Hagrid didn't allow them much of a chance to look around before heading down the side of the mountain towards the little cottage that stood off on its own.

Deep barking greeted them as they all reached his house, and Daniel looked at Arthur in concern. The louder the bark, the bigger the dog, right?

"Fang's a sweetheart. Really."

Hagrid opened the door, and the sweetheart turned out to be even bigger than Daniel had feared. Easily twice as big as Sirius had been when he'd changed into a dog, the creature had to weigh at least 200 pounds, and he looked like he was ready to tear off any hand that was extended toward him.

"Back, Fang."

Hagrid easily pushed the dog to the side when he came out and swarmed all over him, and Fang turned his attention to Daniel, who instantly stepped back behind Teal'c.

"He won't hurt ye, Daniel," Hagrid assured him, noticing the motion and grinning behind his bushy beard.

Teal'c reached out to pet the dog, and Fang responded to the touch with enthusiasm and cheer – which didn't look any less intimidating.

"I was cooking a stew for lunch when we left ter go fetch you lot," Hagrid said as he gestured for them to enter the cottage. "It should be more than ready by now."

Sure enough, the smell coming from the cooking pot in the middle of the fireplace was delicious and Sam wasn't the only one who breathed in deeply. Obviously Hagrid really _could_ cook – no matter what the books said about him.

"Let's eat," Sirius said, heading for the large table. Of course, everything in Hagrid's place was large.

Sam couldn't help but nod her agreement, and she wasn't the only one.

OOOOOOOOO

Without realizing what he was doing, Jack found himself telling Minerva far more about Charlie than he'd planned on. The older woman was a good listener, for one thing, and more than willing to ask questions to get him to open up, but more importantly, Jack needed to talk about his son and purge the grief and guilt he'd been dealing with for so long. How Minerva managed it, he didn't know, but by sharing stories about Charlie, he was changing the memories he had of the boy from the guilt-ridden ones that he'd had into warm, loving ones that were filled with the boy's laughter and love of life.

He wasn't completely convinced that there wasn't anything he could have done to have kept his son from doing what he'd done, but he was able to reconcile the fact that there was the possibility that she was right – and it did help.

"He was a lucky boy," Minerva finally said when Jack finished talking.

He was surprised by that particular comment, and it showed.

"Yeah? How so?"

O'Neill didn't think he had been lucky at all. Look what had happened to him, after all.

Minerva smiled.

"He had parents who loved him very much – and a father who would have done anything for him. Not every child can say that, you know."

"It wasn't enough," Jack said.

"It was plenty." She sat down in her chair – while Jack had been talking, she'd been sitting on the edge of her desk in a very unladylike fashion, but now that he was over the worst of his grief she knew she didn't need to hover. "If he'd stepped off a curb and been hit by a car or something, would you have been able to tell yourself you loved him as much as you could have?"

He looked at her, his eyes still red and his face still pale, but he nodded.

"I tried to."

She nodded, too.

"Then you did everything you could."


	34. 34

_Just a side note for those who read my Campers! stories... I probably won't write anymore of them for a while - until I finish the Mitchell Files and this Harry Potter one, anyways :)._

OOOOOOOOO

They were just finishing up what had to be the best tasting stew Sam and the others had ever tried when a deep, low gong sounded from out of nowhere. It wasn't sharp enough to be startling – which was lucky, because Daniel probably would have ended up with Sam's iced tea sprayed all over him as she'd just taken a drink of it – but it did get everyone's attention.

"What's that?" Daniel asked.

"Professor Dumbledore wants us back," Hagrid explained, standing up. "Are ye finished?"

Since they were – more or less – the others nodded and stood up as well, although Sirius grabbed a couple more rolls before he did.

"Just leave the dishes," their host told them. "I'll take care of them later."

"Thanks for lunch, Hagrid," Sam said, giving him a bright smile. "It was really good."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. The Jaffa had been impressed that the food hadn't been rock hard like the books always said Hagrid's cooking turned out and he had enjoyed it.

"Yer welcomed," he said, and Sam could see he was blushing behind that big bushy beard of his. "We'd better get going. Professor Dumbledore is probably ready ter send you back to where you belong, I reckon."

He led them to the door, and they all headed back up the mountainside toward the castle once more, with Fang following them as far as the door before he went back to the small cottage.

They entered the castle through a smaller, less impressive door than they'd exited, and on the way to the office, they ran into Colonel O'Neill and Minerva – who had been coming down the hall from the opposite direction. Sam wondered what they had been doing, because O'Neill looked red-eyed and pale, and he didn't greet them with more than a nod when they joined them.

"Are you all right, Sir?" she asked him.

"I'm fine, Carter," he said – although he didn't even sound like his usual self.

Daniel frowned.

"Jack?"

"I'm _fine_, Daniel."

Now he sounded irritated – which made him seem a little more like his old self, so they both let it drop – at least for the moment. Time enough to find out what was bothering him once they knew what Dumbledore wanted.

OOOOOOOOOO

Dumbledore looked up when they entered his office, and he smiled, gesturing for them to have a seat in the chairs that were still gathered around the front of his desk.

"Did you enjoy your tour?" he asked.

Sam smiled, and nodded.

"Your school is even more impressive than the books describe."

"Thank you, Major Carter," he said. "I'm glad you find it so." He looked at O'Neill, and there was just a moment when the amusement left his expression and he seemed sorry – although Sam didn't understand this and it was such a fleeting moment that she wasn't all that sure she hadn't imagined it. "I suppose you and your team are ready to return to the non-magical world?"

Jack nodded.

"We'd better get back."

They didn't have to check in – since they were more or less on down time – but it didn't hurt to be where Hammond could find them if he needed to.

"Arthur here will take you back – he needs to return to the convention any ways, since Molly and the children are all there."

Weasley nodded his head in agreement.

"Not that she can't handle them all without my help, but if I'm gone too long she'll think I've abandoned her."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Are we to return to the hotel by means of another portkey?" Teal'c asked.

"No. There are far too many people running about that hotel to risk it – I can't believe Voldemort was so reckless."

"What we'll do," Arthur said, "is travel by floo powder to the apartment of a young woman I know of – she lives in Seattle, but is out of town visiting a friend in Yakima – and then walk the rest of the way to the hotel."

"Flew _what_?" Jack asked, curiously.

"Floo powder, sir," Sam said, unable to be just a little excited at the chance. "It's… well… it's kind of hard to explain. In the books, they throw some powder onto a fire in a fireplace, jump in and call out the name of the place they're heading to."

"They jump in the fire…?"

"It's quite safe, Colonel O'Neill," Dumbledore assured him. "Even Muggles can do it."

Jack scowled.

"Haven't you people heard of _cars_?"

Sirius smiled.

"It's a lot more fun this way, Jack."

"And much faster," Arthur said.

"What if this person you know of has returned from her visit early?" Teal'c asked.

"She hasn't," Arthur said. "We're watching her. We'd know. It's how Molly and I brought the children to the convention in the first place – and how we're planning to leave on Sunday."

"So we're supposed to just jump into a fire?" Daniel asked, just as skeptical as Jack was.

"It's not so bad. Really."

"Professor McGonagall will go along and assist you as you need it," Dumbledore said, smiling at the varied reactions of the group once more. Not that he could blame them. He supposed it sounded crazy to the uninitiated.

"Of course," Minerva said. She gave Jack and Daniel both a wry smile. "It's _perfectly_ safe."

"Uh huh."

You didn't need to know Jack well to know that he wasn't all that convinced.

"Colonel O'Neill…" Dumbledore brought Jack's attention back to him. "Although I'm certain he won't have reason to try again, should Voldemort ever make another attempt at you, we'll be certain to get word of it before he has does it, and we'll most certainly stop it before it happens. You and your team have enough to handle without worrying about looking over your shoulders, and we'll try to make it as easy for you as possible."

"Thanks."

Yeah, there was a little sarcasm there, but only Daniel and Sam caught it. And probably Teal'c – although you never knew with Teal'c, since he didn't show his emotions quite so willingly.

Dumbledore smiled – maybe he _had_ caught the sarcasm?

"You've had a rough day, Colonel, and I apologize for that."

Jack shrugged.

"It's not your fault." As near as he could tell, anyway.

"Besides," Sam said, looking just a little guilty. "In a way I'm glad it happened."

"Oh?"

Jack scowled as he looked over at her, even as Dumbledore asked the question.

Sam nodded.

"I was at the end of my wits trying to figure out how to make Teal'c see that this all wasn't real – and now we know it is."

"Well… no writing books about it," Sirius said. "We already have enough trouble with Rowling…"

"Don't worry," Sam said with a smile. "I have no intention of even _trying_…"

"Another thing…" Sirius said, giving Dumbledore a look that no one could decipher. "When the _next_ book comes out… don't believe everything you read in it. We're working on giving ourselves a few more advantages – and we're going to leak some information out that may or may not be real."

Sam and Teal'c both looked like they wanted to ask what he meant, but Jack had had enough for the day. And he still had jumping into a fire to look forward to.

"We'd better get going…"

Besides, he still hadn't had anything to eat – and whiskey on an empty stomach wasn't the brightest thing he'd done all day.


	35. 35

_Author's Note: Yes, this story is placed sometime around the end of book 4._

OOOOOOOO

"You've _got_ to be kidding…"

There was a definite note of panic in Daniel's voice as he stared at the roaring fire in the fireplace.

The room they'd been brought to was a fairly good sized room that was filled with comfortable chairs and couches and tables that were obviously set around for kids to do homework at. Arthur, Minerva and Sirius – in dog form – had led them up several staircases, and then had stopped in front of a large portrait with a fairly chunky woman who was watching them cheerfully. Her eyes widened when she looked at Jack, and even as Minerva started to mention something about a password, the woman in the portrait curtseyed deeply to Jack.

"Blood calls to blood," she said when she met his gaze once more. "And it's _wonderful_ to have one of Godric's own here. Pass into the room, Cousin."

Jack had frowned, but thanked her, and the portrait swung aside suddenly, revealing the room they were now in. Minerva had gestured for Jack to lead them in, a slight smile on her stern face.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked.

"The Fat Lady's portrait guards the Gryffindor common room – and dormitories." Minerva told them as Sirius hopped through the portal and it swung closed behind them. "She was Godric Gryffindor's great niece – making her his cousin somewhat removed. She, of course, recognized the relationship immediately."

"Oh."

Daniel had looked at Jack to see what he thought of that, but O'Neill was just as withdrawn as he had been since they'd met up after the tour, and he obviously didn't want to discuss it.

And now they were standing in front of the fire – and they were supposed to just walk on into it with a handful of some sort of powder.

Weasley smiled.

"It _won't_ burn, I promise."

"What do we say?" Teal'c asked, reaching his large hand into the pot of powder. "I will go first and demonstrate to Daniel Jackson and O'Neill that it is safe."

Teal'c had read the Histories, and knew what to do.

"Just step into the fire, throw down the floo powder and say '_Dena's apartment'_," Arthur said, glad he wasn't going to have to push them into doing this. "And you'll end up there. Then just move out of the way and wait for us."

Teal'c did as he was told, stepping into the fireplace calmly and looking at O'Neill and Daniel – who were the two that definitely needed convincing. He threw the powder down, and in his deep voice clearly gave his destination. An instant later he vanished.

"Wow…"

Daniel stepped up to the fire, looking around, but he didn't see Teal'c anywhere.

"Where did he go?" Jack asked.

"Dena's apartment," Minerva said. She smiled, and looked at the others. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," Arthur said, stepping forward and repeating the process that Teal'c had. A moment later he was gone as well.

Sam looked at Jack and Daniel, and then stepped forward.

"Guess I'm next."

"I'll go next, Carter," Jack said, unwilling to allow her to do something until he was sure it was safe.

He stepped up, took a handful of the powder and stepped into the fire, pretty much expecting to get fried – even though he'd seen that it was safe.

"Dena's apartment," he said, throwing the powder down. The flames roared up around him and he was suddenly spinning like crazy – and was glad he hadn't had anything to eat yet that day. There was an odd sensation of being moved, and then he was coming to a stop, and fell forward out of the fireplace – only to find that he wasn't in the common room any longer. Now he was in a small and neat apartment.

Strong hands took hold of him and pulled him to his feet, and Teal'c's brown eyes were watching him.

"Are you uninjured, O'Neill?"

"Yeah." He rubbed the arm that he'd landed on, and moved aside as he'd been told to. "I'm fine. You?"

"I am as well."

Arthur smiled.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"I can think of better ways to travel…"

"But not _quicker_," Weasley said. "There's nothing faster than the floo network."

Before Jack had a chance to say that maybe quicker wasn't always the best, there was a slight cracking noise, and Carter was suddenly tumbling out of the fireplace, looking just as disheveled as Jack had felt – and just as dizzy.

Jack stepped forward and pulled her to her feet.

"You okay?"

She looked a little green, but she nodded.

"Yes, sir…"

"You sure?"

She smiled.

"Just let me catch my breath – and my lunch."

"You had _lunch_?"

As she started to answer, there was another crack, and Daniel was suddenly tumbling out of the fireplace as well, glasses in one hand and the other hand reaching out to catch himself. It didn't work, of course, since he was as dizzy as the rest of them, and Jack and Sam both reached down and helped him to his feet.

"Oh… _that_ wasn't fun…" he complained as he sat up, checking to make sure his glasses were intact before putting them back on. "That wasn't _fun_ at all…"

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Considering I was just propelled through a fireplace…?"

"Yeah."

"Fine. Thanks."

A moment later, Minerva emerged from the fireplace as well – proving to them that with a little practice it didn't have to be quite as bad as they had made it out to be. By then, Daniel had been helped to his feet, and they were all more or less back in control of their stomachs.

"Everyone here?" She asked, counting noses. "Good. I was hoping no one would end up someplace else."

Before she could explain that, she headed for the door, and Daniel and Jack both scowled and looked at Sam.

"What did she mean by that?"

Sam flushed a little, and shrugged.

"If you don't clarify where you're going – or if you mispronounce it – there's always the chance you'll end up in the wrong fireplace…"

"And then what?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, sir. I guess she would have had to come looking for you or something…"

Jack frowned again, and Daniel brushed some soot off the rear of his slacks – luckily they were dark so no one would notice.

"The next time some evil wizard kidnaps us, Jack," he said as they headed for the door, "We're driving home."

"Amen."


	36. 36

"So what are your plans?"

Jack looked over at Minerva, who was walking beside him. None of them had said anything as they left the apartment and headed outside. Once there, Arthur had turned right and started down the street with the assurance of a man who knows exactly where he is going. The others followed, because none of them – Minerva probably being the exception – had a clue where they were.

"Plans?"

She smiled.

"Are you heading straight back to the SGC? Or are you going to stay for the rest of the convention?"

He shrugged, looking at the others, who were walking beside them in a loose group. Plenty close enough that they all heard the question.

"Well… we were just here to try and convince Teal'c that it all wasn't real… since we've pretty much screwed that up completely, there's really no sense in us-"

"I would like to remain for the rest of the convention, O'Neill," Teal'c said, certain that Jack was going to say they might as well leave.

"Me, too, sir," Sam said.

Now that they knew it was all real, it would make the convention that much more interesting for her.

Jack frowned, looking at Daniel, who shrugged.

"I don't care one way or the other… if they want to stay, I don't mind." At least the hotel had a good restaurant – and there were several museums in Seattle that he could check out if he decided he needed to get away from everything else. It was as good a place as any to take a weekend off.

Jack didn't reply right away. He was all for going home. Even better, he wanted to go home and lock himself in for a while, and think through everything that had happened and everything he'd learned. Not so much about having a brother he'd never heard about as much as finding out about a whole new world that no one knew anything about – and finding out how close he was to it. And how much closer he might have become had things been different. He wanted to brood for a while, and he couldn't do that in a hotel filled with screaming kids – or in a hotel room he was sharing with Daniel, because Daniel wouldn't give him a chance to brood.

But Sam wanted to stay. And Teal'c wanted to stay. And… well… it wouldn't kill him to hang out in Seattle another day and a half, would it? He could probably find a nice quiet corner somewhere and brood there just as easily.

"It'd be a shame to waste the rooms – they're already paid for." He told them, shrugging.

Carter smiled, knowing from the look in his eyes that he really wanted to go back home, and glad that he was willing to stay.

"Thank you, O'Neill," Teal'c said. He, too, knew that Jack would have preferred to head back to Colorado.

Minerva, too, knew that he didn't want to stay – and unlike the others, she knew why. But it wasn't her business to tell them – which had been the whole point of separating O'Neill from his team when she'd spoken to him about his son. He would tell them or not. It was his choice.

"Besides," he said, shrugging again. "I gotta see if I can find that kid and get him a new stick…"

Everyone looked at him, confused.

"What?"

He frowned.

"What?"

"What kid?" Sam asked.

"The one who ambushed me in the elevator." Had it only been that morning? "I… overreacted just a little…"

They were still looking at him curiously, and Jack sighed and told them the story as they walked down the street and around the corner, suddenly finding themselves in front of their hotel.

"We could probably find the boy for you," Arthur offered. "It wouldn't be that difficult."

"You mean with magic?" Daniel asked.

Minerva smiled.

"It has its uses."

OOOOOOO

They separated from Arthur and Minerva in the hotel lobby. Arthur had to go find his wife and the children, and Minerva said she had a few things to take care of as well. Both promised to be in the area though in case they were needed.

"It appears we have missed the sorting…" Teal'c said.

Indeed, the large groups of children that were running around were now obviously classified into four different groups – to judge by the scarves and cloaks they were wearing.

"I wonder how they convince the kids in Slytherin that they want to be there?" Sam asked.

Since they weren't sure what she was talking about, Jack and Daniel both shrugged. Teal'c, however, spoke up, pointing at one boy in white and green who was carrying a large package in his hands looking quite cheerful.

"Perhaps they ply them with extra sweets."

"Bribe them, you mean?" She asked, smiling. But then she saw another group of boys and girls in green and white, and these kids, too, had fairly good sized bags, which did seem to be filled with snacks of all sorts – and small toys. Maybe they did.

"We would not need the sorting hat to know what house you would be in, Major Carter. According to the Histories, Ravenclaw is filled with geniuses, is it not? Clearly you and Daniel Jackson would belong there."

Sam smiled. He was probably right.

"And you and Colonel O'Neill would definitely be sorted into Gryffindor."

For obvious reasons.

Jack scowled.

"I'm going to go find something to eat."

He didn't want to talk about Gryffindor – or anything else – just then.

Daniel looked over at him.

"Want some company?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Jack scowled. Again.

"Go join one of those workshops. All of you. That's an order."

Of course, he couldn't give them orders here – they weren't offworld or even on base – but he walked off without looking back, and none of them followed.

"What do you suppose is wrong with him?" Daniel asked, watching Jack's retreating back.

Sam shook her head, looking just as concerned.

"He's had a rough day… maybe all he needs is something to eat and a chance to relax."

Of course, she didn't buy that any more than the other two did. But since he obviously didn't want company, they couldn't do much about it.

"Come on, guys, let's go see if we missed the Quidditch demonstration…"


	37. 37

_Author's note: Sorry about how long this took. I had a friend over yesterday, and I actually spent time with my family today! It was so nice._

OOOOOOO

The hotel restaurant was crowded and noisy, but Jack was hungry enough not to care – although he was fortunate enough that the only empty table was one in a far corner. He sat down and the waitress brought him a glass of ice water and a menu and asked him if he wanted anything to drink while he was deciding what he wanted to eat. He ordered a cup of coffee and she left – which was good because he didn't want to try and make small talk with a stranger just then.

He didn't take any time at all deciding what he wanted, but she had a lot more people than just himself to wait on, so it was a while before she returned to take his order. He debated asking her to give him his order to go so he could take it up to his room, but didn't want to make her have to do anything special for him – she was already dealing with several tables filled with young people and their tired parents.

An hour and a half later it was well into the afternoon, he had finished his steak and eggs and was nursing a final cup of coffee while he brooded. Nothing had been solved. He didn't feel any better – that tight knot of guilt was still there in the pit of his stomach wrestling with his lunch – and he was getting another headache from listening to the children at the table next to his whining because they were going to miss seeing something called a Sorcerer's stone.

He was about to get up and go back to his room where he might be able to find something for the headache, when he suddenly wasn't alone any longer.

Without waiting for an invitation, Daniel sat in the booth across from him, his blue eyes watching him with a mixture of uncertainty and concern.

"Hey."

Jack frowned.

"Hey…"

"You missed the Quidditch demonstration."

"Pretty exciting stuff?"

Daniel shrugged.

"I didn't understand most of it – and they kept throwing these odd-sized balls around the room while people who were pretending to be riding broomsticks chased after them and tried to throw other balls throughsome hoops."

"Sounds thrilling…"

"The kids thought it was… they were screaming their little lungs out."

Jack snorted, and Daniel reached across the table and took his coffee from him, taking a tentative sip to see if it was still warm, and then a longer, appreciative gulp. That was the good thing about Seattle; they knew how to do coffee.

"Who won?"

"Beats me." Daniel took another sip of the coffee, and then changed the subject – like Jack had expected him to in the first place. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"_Quidditch_?"

Daniel didn't even acknowledge the attempt at humor.

"Something's bothering you. What is it?"

Jack shook his head, meeting Daniel's gaze with a level one of his own.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're hiding."

"So?"

"So when something's bothering you and you want to brood about it, you tend to end up in a corner. Like this one."

"This was the only table open."

"I'm surprised you didn't eat in our room. So… what is it?"

Jack scowled. He hated that Daniel knew him so well – although at the same time, he liked it, too. That was the sign of a close team, after all.

"Nothing."

"_Nothing_?"

"I just had a hard morning, that's all."

"We did, too. But we're not sulking about it."

"Yeah, well… you're all better than me, okay?"

Daniel knew Jack was trying to get him mad – or get him to say something that would make Jack mad – so they could start arguing. Which would change the subject completely.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"So there _is_ something bothering you."

Jack scowled again. He hated being talked into a corner, too.

"At the moment, it's _you_."

"Jack…"

"Daniel, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, and I have a massive headache building."

"So you can join us for the next workshop?"

"I didn't say that."

"It's join us or I sit here and bug you until you tell me what's going on…"

Jack's scowl hadn't even faded.

"I'm-"

"_Fine_. Yes, I know. So you'll be joining us, then? From what Sam says, the next workshop will be all about the various magical animals and other creatures that inhabit the Forbidden Forest."

"What's the Forbidden Forest?" Jack asked, ignoring the look of disbelief coming from the kids at the table that had been whining. Obviously it was something he should have known about. Jack bit back a rude word, and looked at Daniel – more to avoid the gaze of the little kids than because he was curious.

"Beats me," Daniel said, shrugging. He stood up, and waited, obviously planning on staying there until Jack stood up as well. If he didn't want to talk, fine, but Daniel wasn't going to let him mope. "It's forbidden, after all. How should I know what it is?"

Knowing Daniel was stubborn enough to stand there all afternoon, Jack sighed, and reached into his pocket for his wallet. Fine. He'd learn all about the animals in the Forbidden Forest. If that's what it took to get Daniel to leave him alone.


	38. 38

_Author's Note: Nope, I've never been to a Harry Potter convention – so I'm pretty much guessing what they'd have workshops on and the like. If you have been to one, feel free to email me and tell me what you did – I might need some ideas if this story goes much longer!_

OOOOOOO

They ended up in the large banquet room of the hotel. The tables that normally would have been there were all gone – save a few that were set up with all sorts of papers and books on them – and it was filled with youngsters and their folks, almost all of them still wearing the colored cloaks and scarves that indicated which group they belonged to. Houses, Carter had called them.

Jack and Daniel walked in just in time to hear the person in charge – who was a portly man dressed in a brilliant blue robe and a pointed hat – start telling the various groups which tables to go to, and then telling those who might have missed the earlier sorting that they were going to be grouped together at a couple of other tables along the far wall.

"That would be us," Daniel said, taking hold of Jack's arm to keep him from escaping while they worked their way through the crowd of kids and towards the back wall. They saw Sam and Teal'c – well, Teal'c was easy to spot anyways – and made a beeline for him and Carter.

Sam smiled when they approached, but she was flanked by several children, and didn't have a chance to do much more than say hello before a woman dressed in a similar outfit to the one the man had been wearing walked up to the table with a welcoming smile on her face.

"You all look so eager," she said – obviously not noticing that _Jack_ didn't look eager at all. "Shall we get started then?"

Jack stepped back just a little as the youngsters around him surged towards the table, although he wasn't able to get away completely. Sam was watching him – as was Daniel – and both of them were obviously prepared to come find him if he tried to slip away. He scowled, but turned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Who can tell me what a centaur is?" The woman asked the group – which was comprise of about a dozen children, and about that many adults, including SG-1.

Automatically, Daniel spoke up.

"A centaur is a mythological creature, said to be a horse with the upper body of a human. Although no one actually knows when the first usage of the phrase came from, or where the first rumors of the Centaurs originated, illustrations of centaurs date back to Assyria – around 2000 BC, and India – around 3000 BC. The Greek centaur is sometimes traced back to the Gandharvas, who in Vedic mythology drove the horses from the Sun but it is now accepted that they were a primitive and rough population of horsed shepherds from Thessalony. According to _Greek_ tradition, there are two families of centaurs. The more numerous and unruly centaurs are those born of the union of Ixion, King of the Lapithae and a cloud which Zeus disguised as his own wife, Hera…"

Daniel trailed off, aware that everyone in the area was staring at him. Sam had an amused smile on her face, and Jack's expression was priceless, but the kids had that glassy-eyed look that he was so used to seeing on O'Neill when he tried to explain something, and the woman who had asked the question looked both annoyed and amazed.

"Um… sorry."

"Let me guess. You're a _teacher_?" The woman asked with a smile, now, obviously trying to smooth over the moment.

"Archeologist."

"That's fascinating," she said, and it looked like she was going to say more, but the children and the rest of the group were all watching them as well. She cleared her throat, smiling. "Okay. So we know a centaur is a half horse and half man. Does anyone know what a _unicorn_ is?"

Her look plainly said that what she'd wanted to ask was if anyone _besides_ him knew what a unicorn was, but she was too nice to actually say it.

Jack smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all. At least the beginning of the workshop had been amusing.

An hour and a half later, he wasn't smiling, and he was more than ready to call a quit to this particular workshop. He now knew far more about the Forbidden Forest – which was apparently a forest right on the outskirts of Hogwarts – than he really wanted to know. Than anyone should _ever_ know, Jack thought grumpily. He had learned all sorts of creatures lived there – and that the place was off limits to Hogwarts students because of the dangers involved in going in there. Which led Jack to wonder why they'd have such a forest right beside a school filled with young people – some of whom were almost _certainly_ going to sneak into that forest and find themselves in trouble – in the first place.

He didn't say anything, though. As a matter of fact, he didn't say anything through out the entire workshop. Of course, Daniel didn't, either, although Jack could see that the archeologist was actually finding some of the descriptions of creatures that lived in the forest quite interesting – and he hoped that Daniel didn't have some odd idea that _they_ were going to go check the place out to actually get a look at these creatures. Because they _weren't_.

"That was fun," Sam said to the others as the group was dismissed – along with the other groups – for dinner and whatever free time they were going to be given. The convention would meet again that evening to watch all the Harry Potter movies in the large banquet room once more – and Jack absolutely wasn't going to go see them, no matter who tried to talk him into it.

"It was, indeed, fascinating," Teal'c said, looking down at the papers he had been handed. These were descriptions and drawings of all the creatures that they knew (so far) were living in the forest. Although there was always the chance that more would be added as more books came along. "I would be interested in meeting a centaur."

Jack frowned – because he had no intention of going anywhere near that forest.

"We don't know that centaurs are real," he said as they headed out the banquet room door and started down the hall towards the elevators. Along with half the convention, of course.

"They are in the Histories, O'Neill," Teal'c said, reasonably, reminding Jack that the things in the Histories so far were true.

"But remember," Sam said. "We were told that some of the things in the books were simply made up by this Rowling woman – for added interest in the story, I suppose. Like Hagrid's cooking." Just because Teal'c had been right about it being real, she didn't want him to start believing _everything_ in the books were.

"That is true…"

"Well, it certainly explains why there have been sightings of these creatures often enough in the past to keep the legends going," Daniel said.

Jack scowled.

"There are legends about _dragons_, too, Daniel, but I don't see any flying around…"

Sam smiled.

"Actually, sir…"

He turned and looked at her.

"Don't tell me… there are some in these books?"

She shrugged, trying very hard not to tell him that, while at the same time making it very clear that was exactly what she was doing.

Jack sighed.

"I'm going to go find some aspirin. Come get me when you're ready for dinner."

OOOOOOOOO

_Author's note (again) the centaur description Daniel used was paraphrased from a monster web site – just so you guys don't think I'm too much of a genius. I actually had to go look it up!_


	39. 39

_Author's note: Taylor, thanks for all the convention info – however, in reference to everyone's names being written down in some book since they're born, if that was the case then why wasn't Neville and his grandma (and family) certain if he was magical enough to get into Hogwarts like it says in the book? Obviously there's a discrepancy there, but I thought I'd point that out. Maybe some are written down and some aren't, but it's obvious they don't know everyone going to Hogwarts from the day they're born. Anyways, good info! On with the story._

OOOOOOOO

"Did he tell you what was bothering him?"

Daniel shook his head as they all watched Jack walk away.

"He said he was fine."

She nodded.

"Fine… why am I _not_ surprised?"

"Because that is the same word O'Neill uses every time he wishes to avoid discussion of any subject that is troubling him."

Daniel and Sam looked at Teal'c, who looked back at them, without guile, making it impossible for them to see if he was doing that on purpose. Like he always did.

"Yeaaah…" Daniel frowned, and looked at Sam. "Why don't _you_ go see if you can get him to talk to you? He's not listening to me."

"What makes you think he'll listen to _me_?"

"You're… I don't know…" Daniel shrugged. "He's not going to talk to me, so you're the other choice."

They both turned and looked at Teal'c, who scowled – a truly frightening sight.

"I do not wish to confront O'Neill on his current disposition."

And they both knew that Jack would never open up to him. For that matter, he probably wasn't going to open up to Sam, either. She, at least, could read O'Neill's moods well enough to get out of the line of fire in case he blew up.

Daniel looked back at Sam, who sighed.

"Fine. But not now." He had a headache, and there was no way she was going to try and talk to him when he had a headache. "I'll talk to him after dinner – before the movies."

OOOOOOO

They had dinner together, but they didn't eat in the hotel restaurant. Jack asked if they minded eating somewhere else – away from the noise of the convention, and the little kids running around screaming spells and waving sticks at everyone – and the others readily agreed. Jack wasn't the only one not all that used to having a lot of kids underfoot, after all. He was just the one that was most vocal about how annoying it was.

They found a relatively quiet bar several blocks walk from the hotel and sat at a table, watching a Seattle Mariner's baseball game while they ate. Jack didn't eat as much as the others – he'd had a fairly large meal only a couple of hours before – but he nursed a beer while they ate, and munched on appetizers to keep them company while wishing for a good hockey game. (Of course, who isn't wishing for a good hockey game right about now?).

Twenty minutes before the movie was scheduled to begin back at the hotel, Sam looked at her watch.

"We'd better get back."

Jack scowled.

Sam wasn't even fazed. She was far too accustomed to that look to be intimidated – although at first it _might_ have had that effect on her. She smiled, feeling fairly good herself.

"Come on. You can share my popcorn."

"I'm not going to the movie, Carter."

He stood up with the others, though, and they paid their bill and headed back outside. It was getting dark; there were clouds moving in, now, and they'd probably be rained on any minute, now, but the walk back to the hotel wasn't too bad, even if Jack did drag his feet just a little.

Sam lagged back with him, mindful of her promise to try and find out what was bothering Jack, and Daniel and Teal'c ended up almost a block ahead of them. They stopped for a red light, and while they were watching the cars go by, Sam cast a surreptitious glance at him. His expression was still somewhat tense, and his posture told her that there was still something wrong – even though he'd been fairly decent company over dinner.

As the light turned, and the little walk signal came on, Sam nonchalantly as possible cleared her throat.

"Are you okay?"

Jack looked over at her, and she saw that his eyes were as bleak as the graying skies. He shrugged and forced a smile, however.

"Yeah, Carter. I'm fine."

Yeah. There was that word again. She was quiet as they walked, trying to figure out how to ask him the same question again without making it sound like she was nagging him about his emotions – which of course, she was. She walked beside him as they entered the hotel lobby, and to his surprise, followed him up the hall to the elevator instead of heading towards the banquet room, where kids and adults were already forming up, blankets and pillow in their hands, since they would be more or less sitting on the floor during the show, and there was no reason not to carry a blanket or pillow to sit on. Daniel and Teal'c weren't in the line, but they weren't anywhere else that Sam could see, either. Obviously, they were making themselves scarce.

The elevator was empty, as was the hall when they got out of it, and when they reached Jack's door, Sam tried again, knowing she was running out of time and chances.

"It's probably pretty hard… finding out that you've got a brother you didn't know about…"

It was a bit more direct than she'd meant to be, but she couldn't think of any other way to broach the subject.

Jack frowned.

"He's not my brother, Carter."

"You still say that? Even after all-"

"He might have the same father," Jack interrupted, waving a hand irritably, "But that _doesn't_ make him my brother. _Daniel's_ more of a brother than this Voldemort guy is. For that matter so is _Teal'c_ – and he's…" Jack trailed off, knowing that the hall of a hotel wasn't the place to mention Teal'c's differences.

"Then what's been bothering you?" Sam asked, surprised. She had assumed – incorrectly, obviously – that the whole long-lost brother thing had been the reason for O'Neill's withdrawn moodiness.

"Nothing's bothering me."

He unlocked his room, but Sam followed him in when he opened the door, pressing the issue, now.

"Something is, sir. You've been quiet ever since you went off with Professor McGonagall."

Exasperated, Jack sighed. Why was she so stubborn? Couldn't she just take his original answer as the _final_ answer?

"Nothing's bothe-"

"Sir."

Her blue eyes were locked on him, now, and he knew she wasn't going to leave. Especially since the door was closed and she was leaning back against it, as if to block his escape. Where had she learned such interrogation techniques?

"It's nothing, Carter."

"It's _something_. I might be able to help…"

"You can't."

"I might."

"No one can."

"You don't know that for certain, sir. It-"

"It was about my son, all right?" Jack snapped, angry with her for forcing him into this corner.


	40. 40

"Your son?" Sam repeated, startled.

"Yes."

"Charlie?"

His eyes, which were already so bleak, turned sad.

"Unless there's another one somewhere that someone's hiding from me."

His eyes were sad but his voice was bitter, and Sam knew that despite his claim, he was angry about not having been told about his real father – although that obviously wasn't the worst of it.

"I'm sorry, sir… I didn't…"

He shrugged, and turned away from her, unwilling or unable to meet her gaze. He didn't want pity. Not even hers. Especially not hers.

"No reason you could have…"

Sam hesitated, definitely uncertain, now. But she decided that she might as well continue the conversation – or he was going to be moody for much longer. Talking things out _helped_, whether he liked it or not.

"What about him?"

Jack didn't turn around. Instead he went to the window and pushed the curtain aside, looking out. Sure enough, it had started to drizzle. He could see the rain falling in the light from the streetlight across from the hotel. It fit his mood so perfectly though that he couldn't even think of anything sarcastic to say about the city rusting away.

Sam walked over to stand beside him, looking out the window as well, but her complete attention on her CO. She'd never seen him looking so vulnerable and demoralized before and it was daunting and depressing at the same time.

"What about him, sir?" She asked again. "What did she say?"

Jack shook his head, and she saw a tear trickle down his cheek. At first she'd thought it was the reflection of rain on the window, but there wasn't really any doubt what it was.

"Jack?"

He took a deep breath, a ragged, deep breath, and tried to swallow around the lump in his throat.

"She… um…"

He reached up with an impatient hand and wiped away the tear, just now noticing it and hoping she hadn't – although he knew she didn't miss much.

"It's nothing, Carter…"

Small hope that she'd just accept that and leave, and he knew it even as he said it. But he had to try.

"She what?" Carter asked, ignoring him. "What could she possibly know about your son that you didn't?"

"Charlie was a wizard," Jack said, softly, leaning his forehead against the cold glass of the window and not looking at Sam. "She knew that – and I didn't."

"He what?"

"He was a wizard," Jack repeated. "She knew and I didn't. _He_ knew, and I didn't. He hid it from me…"

"What?"

"He was a wizard – or whatever they call them… or he was _going_ to be – or _could_ have been – or… whatever…"

"How… how would she know that?"

Sam couldn't really be surprised by the information. If Jack O'Neill was, indeed, a direct descendant of one of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world's past, then it was obviously possible that the ability could have been passed through the generations.

"She watched him… they were going to send us a letter…" he shrugged, still looking out the window, although another tear had traced a trail down his cheek and he hadn't wiped it away yet.

"Really?"

He nodded, looking so sad that she wanted to hug him and tell him everything was okay. Of course, it wasn't; Charlie was dead, and O'Neill had been living with the guilt from that for a long time. But she'd never seen him look so broken-hearted.

"He must have been a remarkable little boy…"

Another tear fell, and she felt guilty for forcing him to relive such painful memories. She hadn't, of course, known what it was that had been bothering him so – and never would have brought this subject up if she had – but now she couldn't leave him like this, because it was her fault.

"He was."

She hardly even heard the soft whisper – even in the silence of the room – and the two of them were silent for a long time, just staring out the window at the rain. Finally, though, Jack spoke again, and his voice was filled with a longing that made her ache.

"Minerva told me that Charlie would have gotten hold of my gun no matter what I had done to keep him from it… I guess he was already able to do magic…"

She reached out and rested her hand on his back, uncertain what to say, but trying to think of a way to make him hurt less.

"Precocious."

O'Neill nodded, and another tear followed the first down his cheek. Immediately another fell, and Sam couldn't stop herself. She pushed him gently back and placed herself between him and the window, pulling him into her arms.

He hesitated for an instant, frozen, but only for an instant. Then his restraint crumbled, and he sagged against her, his head coming down on her shoulder and his arms going around her as he started to cry.

Sam held him tightly, giving him all the support she could as he mourned for his lost son – and cried out the guilt that had always plagued him for allowing it to happen. When her legs grew tired, she simply guided him over to the bed, sitting down and pulling him down with her. Jack didn't even notice. He'd bottled up the pain for so long that when the dam finally burst, it was doing so in full, and he hadn't cried like this in… well, he couldn't even remember. But it'd been a long time.

"I've got you," Sam murmured softly, over and over as she rocked him gently. Occasionally she'd stroke his back or his hair, but all she really did was hold him. And she was still holding him when he finally cried himself to sleep against her, emotionally spent and physically exhausted.

Shaking her head to find herself in such a position, she moved away from his side, lowering him to the bed in as comfortable a position as she could manage. She pulled his shoes off, covered him with a blanket and debated staying with him until he woke up. Deciding that wouldn't be comfortable for either of them, however, she left the room silently, turning the light off and closing the door behind her.


	41. 41

_Author's Note: Hehe! No guns and violence in this one – not really, anyways. It's rated lower than anything I've ever posted before and I've been very careful to keep within that rating for any younger people that might be reading_

OOOOOOOO

When she left the room Sam went down to the lobby of the hotel. It was practically deserted, but she knew where to find everyone – although she wasn't all that certain that she'd be able to find anything in the banquet room with a movie playing.

Sure enough, when she slipped into the room a few minutes later, it was dark, lit up only by the occasional bright flashes coming from the huge screen that was on one wall. She stood at the doorway for a long minute, allowing her eyes a chance to adjust to the dark room, and to look for her teammates. The first movie was fairly close to being over, she saw, so she wasn't going to be too concerned if she didn't find them right away – she could catch them between movies.

Then a switch to a daylight scene lit up the entire room just long enough for her to find Teal'c's large figure sitting on the floor in the back of the room with his back resting against the far wall. Beside him Daniel was sprawled on cushions, and Sam wondered if he was awake.

She grabbed up one of the small bags of popcorn and made her way over to them, careful to try and not block anyone's view of the movie.

Daniel proved he was awake by sitting up when she dropped to the floor beside him, leaning against one of his many cushions.

"Hey. I was wondering where you were."

His voice was a whisper so as not to disturb those close by – although not a lot of parents or kids had opted to sit near Teal'c, who was imposing enough in the light, much less a large, empty and darkened room.

"I got held up, sorry."

Her voice was just as soft.

"We were wondering if Jack had tied you up and tossed you out a window, or stuffed you down the garbage chute or something."

Sam smiled, but she didn't think she should discuss what had happened in the room. At least, not until she and her CO had discussed it – if he even _wanted_ to.

"He probably thought about it," she admitted.

"Did you find out what's wrong?"

"He's not in a very talkative mood…"

Which wasn't a lie, and still protected O'Neill's privacy.

"Is he coming down?"

She shook her head, and then changed the subject.

"How do you like the movie?"

Daniel shrugged, and stole her popcorn.

"It's… interesting."

"The Histories are much more enjoyable…" Teal'c said, his deep voice more of a rumble – even when he whispered.

"Books usually are," Sam agreed, taking her popcorn back and stretching out with her feet in front of Teal'c and her elbow and handpropping her head up next to Daniel's thigh. "But at least you'll get a general idea of what's going on…"

Daniel didn't say anything, but really… he hadn't had a clue what was going on most of the day – and really wasn't all that positive he knew what was happening in the movie. But he was always willing to learn something new.

"I don't understand what happened with Voldemort, though…"

"You will," Sam promised him. "If you don't get it from the movie, tell me, and I'll tell you the story in the morning."

He nodded, and settled in to watch the rest of the movie, well aware that even though they had been whispering softly, Teal'c's intimidating presence was all that was keeping some people from shushing them.

OOOOOOOOO

It was late when Daniel returned to the hotel room. The second movie was still going strong, but with the promise of an explanation of the movies in the morning, he'd had enough and had decided he was going to go to bed. He told Sam and Teal'c – neither of whom showed any interest in leaving the banquet room for any reason – that he'd see them for breakfast, and then headed for the room.

Jack was asleep, Daniel saw as soon as he entered the room. Sprawled in his bed, he was still fully clothed – with only his shoes sitting on the floor – and sleeping above the blankets for the most part. It didn't look all that comfortable, but Daniel knew he'd slept in worse positions a- for that matter, so had _Daniel_ – so he didn't bother to wake him up. Instead, he took a quick shower, and went to bed himself, trying to avoid disturbing Jack when he did.

OOOOO

The sound of the shower – or more to the point, the sound of Daniel _singing_ in the shower (in some Arabic language) – woke Jack up from his fitful sleep. He rolled over, groaning at the aches in what seemed to be every muscle in his body, and rubbed his eyes, which were scratchy and felt dry. And then he remembered _why_ they felt like that, although he honestly didn't remember going to bed. Or falling asleep. All he remembered was…

"Oh, great…"

He was glad Daniel was in the shower and hadn't heard the particular groaning sound that had accompanied that, because he knew the archaeologist would have immediately come over to his bedside, nagging him about what was wrong and if he was okay.

Crap.

What had he done? He rolled over again, feeling a headache, as well, and wondering if it was the after-effect of the crying jag, or a reminder that one shouldn't drink a lot of whiskey before eating, and then drink a few beers on top of that whiskey. It wasn't a hangover – he hadn't drunk that much – but he felt awful. What was she going to think of him? More importantly… how had she _managed_ to get him to open up like that? Jack was usually a lot more careful about what he said, and who he said it to – and the man that had broken down in this room earlier that evening wasn't _him_.

Crap.

He sighed, and allowed his thoughts to return to Charlie, anticipating that agonizing emptiness that he always felt when he thought of the boy. This time, however, he was surprised. Not that the pain was gone, of course. It was _still_ there. But for the first time he didn't feel overwhelmed by the emptiness in that place Charlie had once filled, and he didn't immediately feel the sting of tears threatening. He ached, but he could handle it.

He closed his eyes again as he heard the shower turn off – and the singing stop, thank God – and replayed the events of the evening in his mind over and over, realizing that maybe he'd needed a chance to cry it out. Not with Minerva, of course. She wasn't someone he knew well enough to be someone that could help him deal with that, but Sam was – and apparently had. He didn't feel completely healed – and he had a raw, empty spot inside him that would still need time to heal – but he instinctively knew that it would heal. With time.

Maybe he owed Carter more than he thought, Jack decided, sighing softly and allowing himself to drift back to sleep. He'd have to think of a way to thank her – and maybe a way to apologize.


	42. 42

Going to bed early meant waking up early, especially for someone who was used to waking up early most of the time anyways. When Jack opened his eyes next, it was early – even for him – and he knew without even looking that Daniel was asleep, still. Mainly because he could hear him snoring. He lazed in bed for a few minutes, giving his body the opportunity to go back to sleep if he needed more rest, but his bladder told him that sleep wasn't the most important thing just then, and he felt a bit scruffy from sleeping in his clothes, which meant changing and showering. But maybe he wouldn't shave – just because.

He rolled out of bed, feeling stiff and a little achy, although the headache that had plagued him the night before was gone. Scowling at Daniel – who, if anything, was snoring even louder than he had been when Jack first woke up – O'Neill crossed the room and headed for the bathroom, stopping only long enough to grab his bag so he wouldn't have to turn the light on in the main room to search for clean clothes.

He didn't sing in the shower – he rarely did – but he did shave, and he felt a lot better when he finally got out, dried off and dressed in jeans and a polo shirt. Socks and shoes and his wallet, and Jack was ready to go find some breakfast. A larger breakfast to make up for not having a large dinner. He tossed another annoyed look at Daniel – not that it was his fault, since everyone knew Daniel had allergies and snored – and closed the door behind him, heading for the elevator.

And found himself face to face with the Harry Potter kid once more when the door opened.

Just as startled as Jack was, Harry gave him a somewhat shy smile and moved to the left to make room for him.

"Are you following me?" Jack asked, feeling pretty good and more than ready to enjoy a little banter – even if it was with a teenager.

Harry's smile widened, and he didn't look quite so uncomfortable, now.

"I was here, first," he reminded Jack.

_Oh yeah._

"Meeting your friends?"

Harry shook his head.

"They're all asleep."

"Playing on the elevators?"

He smiled, again.

"I thought I'd get some breakfast."

Jack nodded, and the elevator came to a stop.

"That's where I'm going. Care to join me?"

"You're not meeting anyone?"

"They're asleep."

Harry hesitated, and then shrugged.

"If you want company, sure."

"I do."

They walked to the restaurant, and were shown to the same table they'd sat in the last time. Given menus and water glasses, they were quiet for a little while as they made their choices, and when the waitress brought Jack his coffee and Harry a cup of hot chocolate they ordered – Jack insisting that he would buy breakfast, since he had been the one stalking Harry.

When the waitress left them once more, Jack took a sip of his coffee, and watched as Harry scooped some whipped cream off the top of his hot chocolate.

"So…" he said, finally. "You're _really_ Harry Potter, huh?"

Harry blushed, now, and Jack saw his hand move as if to brush his hair forward over his forehead.

"Yes."

Jack smiled an apology for embarrassing him.

"Minerva told me," he said.

Harry nodded, and hesitated again.

"I know who _you_ are, too, now…" he said.

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Weasley told me…"

"Ah."

Jack wondered what he'd been told. But only wondered it for a moment, because Harry's next question answered that.

"Is… Voldemort _really_ your brother?"

Jack shrugged.

"Apparently. I don't see much resemblance, myself, but I didn't have much of a chance to talk with him." He frowned. "We don't _choose_ our relatives, Harry… so don't hold that against me, okay?"

Harry shook his head.

"I never would."

He'd be the last one to hold a relative against someone, after all – although Colonel O'Neill didn't know that.

"Do you _really_ go to other planets?"

Jack looked around, and frowned.

"That's _classified_ stuff, Harry…"

"Sorry."

He smiled to soften the rebuke. Harry Potter was a teenaged wizard – or a wizard-to-be, or whatever they called neophyte wizards. He was close enough to the age that Charlie would have been – although Charlie would have been a couple of years older – that Jack wondered if the two of them might have ever met had things been different, and wondered if they would have been friends. He felt that familiar ache at the thought of his son, but once more also felt that it wasn't as agonizing as it once had been.

"So… you go to wizard school, right?"

Harry smiled, his green eyes twinkling in good humor.

"That's _classified_ stuff, Colonel O'Neill…"

Just then a little boy walked by with his mother, waving a stick and chanting nonsense words that were obviously meant to be spells of some sort. Jack and Harry both watched him walk by and then O'Neill looked at Harry.

"_My_ secret's a lot better kept than yours is."

Harry laughed.

"What do you want to know, Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.

"Whatever you want to tell me. And just call me _Jack_, okay?"

"Okay."

So he did.


	43. 43

_Author's Note and completely off-topic: As I was writing this I had a knock on the door and there was a UPS guy with 2 large boxes from the UK. Inside were two cases of my own personal favorite cookie (biscuit) in the world. Milk Chocolate Hob Nobs! Thank you to those 12 of you who went around behind my back and sent me what is arguably the sweetest birthday present I've had in forever!_

OOOOOOOOOOO

By the time they had their food in front of them Harry had given Jack a fairly brief but all too painful summary of his childhood. Enough of one that Jack had half a mind to go find old Uncle Vernon and teach him some manners. When he'd mentioned that, Harry had simply smiled, looking pleased despite the fact that he shook his head.

"It's not as bad as it was before I met the others," he told Jack. "Uncle Vernon's afraid of Sirius."

"Why?"

"Because he's a convicted murderer and escaped from prison."

O'Neill raised an eyebrow at that, but Harry was quick to explain.

"He wasn't guilty of what they accused him of doing – it was Wormtail who really-"

"Wormtail?" Jack interrupted. "That wouldn't be a short, balding guy that can turn himself into a rat, would it?"

Harry nodded.

"You know who he is?"

"Let's just say we've met."

Harry nodded again, and took up a piece of his toast.

"Sirius was my dad's best friend – he's my godfather, although I didn't know that until recently."

"That's the guy that can turn himself into a dog, right?"

Just making sure they were talking about the same guy, after all.

"Yes. Uncle Vernon's afraid of him. So all I have to do is mention him, and I'm usually left alone."

"Why do you live with the Dursley's then?" Jack asked, curiously. "Why not live with this Sirius guy?"

"Because Sirius is an escaped convict and he doesn't stay in one place long."

It was obvious to Jack that Harry wished otherwise.

"Besides," Harry added. "Professor Dumbledore says that I have to stay with my aunt. It's kind of complicated…" And he didn't want to talk about it, Jack could tell. So he changed the subject to one that was hopefully less painful.

"So… you didn't always know you were a wizard?"

Harry shook his head.

"Not until I got the letters – although I had strange things happen a lot of the times. Things that I know _now_ were magic, but didn't know then."

Jack wondered if Charlie had had strange things happen before he'd realized what it was, but thinking about it, he couldn't remember anything odd, really. Maybe he hadn't been around enough to notice? That particular thought stung, and it must have shown on his face, because Harry grew silent for a minute, watching him.

"Are you okay, Jack?" He asked, finally.

O'Neill nodded, his attention back on the boy in front of him and not on his son.

"I'm fine, Harry, sorry." He took a bite of his breakfast (biscuits and gravy with sausage and hash browns). "Tell me about your school. I know what it looks like, but-"

"But you haven't read the books so you don't have a clue what happens there…"

Jack smiled.

"Exactly."

"We have classes, just like Muggles do. They're just not the same kind of-"

"Good morning."

They both jumped, startled, and looked up. Without either of them noticing, Sam Carter had entered the dining room, and couldn't help but be surprised at finding her CO once more sitting with Harry Potter. She would have thought the last thing he'd have wanted to do was hang anywhere close to a teenaged wizard – especially after hearing that it was what his own son had been destined to be. But there they were, and both of them seemed to be comfortable with the other. They were even talking.

Jack recovered first.

"Good morning." He looked at Harry. "Harry? May I have the privilege of introducing Major Samantha Carter? She's my second in command, and about as brilliant as they come. Carter, this is Harry Potter."

Sam held out her hand to the boy, who blushed and took it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry."

"You, too, Major Carter."

"Call me Sam."

He nodded.

"Okay."

Jack moved over in the booth.

"Have a seat, Carter. Harry was just telling me about his school. You might find it interesting…"

He didn't mention the events of the night before – but with the boy sitting across from him that didn't surprise Sam at all. She smiled at the invitation and sat down, and the waitress immediately came over to ask if she needed a menu.

Sam shook her head, gesturing at O'Neill's plate.

"I'll have what he's having – and a glass of orange juice, please."

The waitress left and quickly returned with a glass of orange juice, then told her the rest would be just a bit longer. Sam wasn't in any hurry, of course, so she just nodded, and then turned to the guys when the waitress had left once more, giving Harry a wide smile.

"What are you guys doing up so early?"

Harry blushed again, and Jack smiled. The boy probably wasn't used to pretty women giving him this much attention – at least, if what Jack had heard about his home life was any indication.

"Harry's been telling me about himself."

"It's nothing interesting," Harry said, quickly. "Just… stuff…"

Sam's smile grew.

"I find that hard to believe… especially after what I've read."

Harry's face was so hot by then that Jack was surprised there wasn't steam coming out his ears. Taking pity on him – although it was amusing to watch – O'Neill nudged Sam lightly with his elbow.

"He's going to spontaneously combust if you keep that up, Carter."

She didn't look all that repentant – after all, she rarely had a chance to tease a teenaged boy, now did she? Especially a famous one who wasn't supposed to really exist.

"Sorry." She smiled at Harry – who was still brilliant red, but looking as if he was enjoying the attention nonetheless – and took a sip of her orange juice. "So… can I listen in? Or is it secret stuff?"

Just as she said it a small group of early risers walked past, each of them wearing a gold and scarlet cloak or scarf, and holding wands.

Harry looked chagrined, and shrugged as they passed by.

"It's obviously not a secret…"


	44. 44

"Well… at least people don't _really_ think it's real," Sam said as the group vanished to another part of the restaurant.

"Except in some instances," Jack corrected, reminding her of the whole reason they were there in the first place.

"True." Sam turned her attention back to Harry, who had been watching the two of them speculatively. "So… Harry… what were you telling Colonel O'Neill about your school?"

Harry looked at Jack.

"She can't call you _Jack_?"

O'Neill smiled, slightly, and shrugged, looking over at Carter.

"She _could_ – if she wanted to."

"It's habit," Sam said, flushing slightly.

Aware that she was struggling just a little, Jack took the attention off Carter.

"Harry was just starting to tell me about his classes."

Harry nodded.

"They're okay – most of them. I take charms, and transfiguration and-"

"I don't have a clue what any of that means," Jack admitted.

"Charms is for learning how to do spells," Harry explained. "Transfiguration is for turning one thing into another."

"Like turning someone into a frog?"

Harry smiled and shrugged.

"We haven't gotten that far, yet. Professor McGonagall has only been having us-"

"Minerva is your teacher?" Jack interrupted.

Harry nodded, surprised at the familiar form of address – although he didn't say anything about it.

"She's one of them. She's also the head of Gryffindor House, so she's my house head, too."

"You're in Gryffindor, huh?"

Harry nodded.

"You really _haven't_ read any of the books, have you, Jack?"

It was Jack's turn to smile, now.

"Not a word. I'm getting all my information second-hand."

"_First_-hand, really, sir," Sam said, gesturing to Harry.

"Good point, Carter. So. You're in-"

"Good morning."

Again they all jumped at the sound of a new voice – and Harry spilled his hot chocolate. Looking up, Jack saw that Minerva was standing beside their table, looking as though she'd been up for hours.

Sam smiled a greeting.

"Good morning."

"May I join you?"

Harry moved over without a word, and Minerva sat down beside him, looking at Jack for a moment – obviously wondering how he was doing, but unwilling to ask a personal question such as that one with Harry (and possibly Sam) sitting there.

"Good news, Jack," Minerva told him, taking a napkin and wiping up the chocolate Harry had spilled. "I managed to locate that young man you were looking for."

"What?"

Jack didn't have a clue. But then, it _was_ still early, right?

She smiled.

"The boy who startled you in the elevator."

"Oh." Now, of course, he knew exactly what she was talking about. The kid whose stick he'd broken. "How did you…? Never mind..." It was probably some magical thing or something, and he probably wasn't ready for any more weird happenings.

Minerva seemed to understand, because she didn't explain. Instead, she folded her hands on the table in front of her.

"We'll arrange for him to 'accidentally' find a new one – a much nicer one."

Jack nodded. That would save him the trouble of searching the kid out and apologizing. Assuming the kid didn't run off screaming the minute he saw him in the first place. Which was probably a possibility.

"Thank you."

She nodded and looked at Sam and Jack both, now.

"Are you staying for the remainder of the convention?"

O'Neill shrugged, looking at Sam.

"Are we?"

She shrugged as well.

"There's a Defense against the Dark arts workshop this morning, and then the Quidditch match – each house playing the others, divided into age groups, of course… but I was thinking that Teal'c probably wouldn't want to participate – and probably _shouldn't_ even if he did want to."

"Who's Teal'c?" Harry asked, curiously.

"A friend of ours," Jack said, somewhat evasively. There was no way he was going to tell Harry anything he hadn't already been told, after all. Even if he was a wizard kid. "Nice guy."

"He has a tendency to be competitive, though," Sam said, smiling. "And he's fairly large."

Which meant they probably shouldn't allow him to get into the middle of a Quidditch match. Images of kids and adults flying in all directions across the banquet room floor went through her mind – and probably O'Neill's from the expression on his face.

"We'll stick around as long as Teal'c wants," Jack said. Teal'c probably wouldn't want to join in on the Quidditch game, anyways, and he was almost certain Daniel wouldn't. "Unless _you_ want to stay for that?" He asked her, making sure she knew that she had some say in the matter as well.

Carter smiled, but shook her head.

"I'd rather not."

_She_ had plenty of things to do at home, after all.

Minerva gave them a tight smile, making Jack wonder if she ever really smiled.

"Then I'll take my leave of both of you," she told them, giving Jack another look, but once more not saying anything. In response to the look, he smiled – not much of a smile, just the upturning of one corner of his mouth – but it told her that he was okay without her needing to ask, and the slightly concerned expression in her eyes faded a little.

"It was nice meeting you, Professor," Sam said.

"Yes," Jack agreed. "It was."

"Likewise," Minerva told them both. "I hope we get a chance to see each other again."

"Under better circumstances," Jack said.

"Yes."


	45. 45

Minerva left them after that, but Harry stayed, chatting with the two of them as they had breakfast. Carter was impressed by the way her CO managed to talk with Harry – not as if he were a little kid that needed to be humored – but as a real person, even a friend. Not that she hadn't ever seen him relate to children; for all that he was cynical and seemingly indifferent to those around him most of the time, she knew better. They'd met several different children – Cassie being one good example – and Jack O'Neill always ended up on the side of the kid. No matter what.

Of course, as she watched him and Harry start flicking ice cubes from their water glasses at each other, Sam decided that there was something a bit more to this particular relationship. She knew that Harry didn't have a father, and hadn't had much of a male role model in his life – if the books were right, at any rate – and of course she knew about Charlie. Maybe, she thought, they were surrogating for each other. At least for the moment.

Deciding that if that were the case she should let them alone, Sam ate quickly and excused herself, telling them that she wanted to take care of some packing and would see what the others were doing.

"You don't have to go, Carter…" Jack said, flicking an ice cube at her – just in case she was feeling left out.

Sam smiled.

"I don't want to get kicked out of here."

"We won't get kicked out."

"You might."

"We'll clean up after ourselves." Harry promised.

"And we'll give the waitress a big tip," Jack added.

She shook her head.

"I'm not going to risk it." Standing up, Sam gave Harry her best smile. "it really was a pleasure to meet you, you know?"

He blushed – again. And Jack whacked him with an ice cube while his attention was diverted.

"Thank you, Sam. I enjoyed meeting you, too. I hope we _do_ get to see each other again."

"I'm sure we will." She told him. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

He nodded.

"I will."

"And tell Sirius I said hi next time you write to him."

Harry grinned.

"I will."

Sam turned to Jack, who barely concealed his scowl in time.

"I'll meet you in a while?"

O'Neill nodded.

"Find out what the others want to do, will ya?"

"Yes, sir."

She flashed Harry another smile, and then left the restaurant.

"She's nice," Harry said, as the two of them watched her leave.

Jack nodded.

"Yeah, she is."

"Are you married?"

Surprised by the question, Jack shook his head.

"No."

"Is Sam?"

Ah. _That_ was the reason.

"No."

"Does she have a boyfriend?"

"Not right now."

"Do _you_? Have a girlfriend, I mean?"

"Not right now." Before he could pursue _that_ particular rabbit, Jack changed the tone of questioning – he was good at that, after all. "What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Harry smiled, flushing just a little.

"No."

"Is there some cute wizard-girl you have your eye on?"

"We call them witches, Jack," he said, turning even redder. "And I don't know very many of them very well – only Hermoine – and we're just friends."

"Friends, huh?"

He nodded.

"Definitely."

As if he knew Jack had changed the subject on purpose, Harry picked his spoon back up, fished another ice cube out of his water and flicked it at Jack. He didn't want the topic of the day to be his lack of a girlfriend.

Jack retaliated immediately.

OOOOOOOO

"I can't believe we got kicked out…"

Harry cast a guilty look back at the entrance to the restaurant and shook his head.

"Me, either."

"It's not like I _meant_ to hit that guy in the back of the head..."

"It probably didn't help that he was the hotel manager," Harry said.

"True."

Jack shrugged. Ah well. It wasn't the first time he'd been booted from someplace, and probably wouldn't be the last. At least he didn't live in Seattle, so he wouldn't have to worry about wanting to come back.

"Are you sticking around for the rest of the convention?" He asked Harry as the two of them headed for the lobby, which was now starting to fill with people since it was much later than it had been when they'd headed in for breakfast.

The boy shook his head.

"Classes are starting soon… I have to get some stuff together: new class books, potion ingredients, stuff like that."

O'Neill felt a little stab of gloom at that, because he really was starting to like this kid. If Harry was sticking around, he might have even convinced the rest of the team to stay until afternoon.

"I guess this is goodbye then, huh?"

Now Harry looked gloomy, too.

"I guess so…"

"But you could keep in touch," Jack added. "If you wanted to, that is…"

Harry looked up at him.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"No. I wouldn't mind at all. As a matter of fact, I'd like it."

The boy smiled.

"I could write to you."

Jack nodded.

"And I'd write back."

"That'd be great, Jack."

They both hesitated, uncertain, now. And O'Neill was the one to break the silence.

"Look… I get the feeling you're heading into something rough, Harry… if you do… and it's more than you and your wizard buddies can handle… give me a call, okay? I'll come running."

Harry smiled.

"But you're not a wizard, Jack… what could you do?"

Jack grinned, and tousled his hair, suddenly feeling pretty good, now that the offer was on the table.

"You haven't met Teal'c, Harry. Trust me; he's a match for anyone Voldemort can throw at him. Just remember what I told you, okay?"

Harry nodded, and brushed his hair automatically over his scar again, although he was grinning widely now.

"I'll remember, Jack. Thanks."


	46. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Monday mornings were a good time for General George Hammond. He always made sure to arrive early that morning so he could go over his reports of the week; making sure everything was perfect with not only his reports but those of the various department heads under him so that they wouldn't have any of the old stuff to worry about in the week to come and could focus on anything new that was thrown at them.

Pretty much finished with all his work – which was good because time was now creeping up on him and the base would be coming to life any time now – Hammond sighed and set Colonel Jack O'Neill's latest stack of half-completed paperwork down on his desk once more. He'd have to take it back to O'Neill and have him finish it before he forgot – how could the man overlook the names of those on his team? It wasn't like there were all that many of them, after all!

Reaching for the phone on his desk – not the red one – he pressed a number on the keypad, and waited for one of the guards at the main gate to answer.

"Main Gate, Staff Sergeant Richards speaking, sir." The answer came almost immediately, which Hammond approved of.

"Sergeant, this is General Hammond. Has Colonel O'Neill checked in yet this morning?"

"No, sir."

"When he does, have him come to my office, please."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Thank you."

Hammond hung up the phone, and returned to what he'd been doing.

OOOOOOO

Twenty minutes later there was a light rap on his door, and he looked up. And saw that not only was Colonel O'Neill outside waiting to be admitted, but so were Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. He frowned, but waved them all in.

"I didn't need to see your entire team, Colonel."

Jack nodded as Hammond waved them into chairs.

"I know, sir. Sergeant Richards told me you wanted to see me. But I thought we might as well report on the weekend."

Oh, yes. Hammond looked at all of them.

"Where's Teal'c?"

"He'll be along, General," Daniel said. "He said he had to go talk to someone, first."

"How did the weekend go, then?" Hammond asked. "Did you get him straightened out?"

Jack frowned – as did Carter and Daniel.

"Actually, sir," Sam said, slowly. "It… um…"

"Turned out Teal'c was right all along," Daniel finished.

"Excuse me?"

"This whole Harry Potter thing," Jack said, shrugging. "It's all _real_."

"What?"

"It's not exactly like the books portray it to be, but it's pretty close." Sam said.

"You're not serious."

"We _are_," Daniel said. "We've met some of them – and spoke with them and-"

"You met actors dressed up like the characters in the books, you mean?"

"No, sir," Jack said. "We met them. The people. Including Harry Potter himself."

"And Professor Dumbledore," Sam added.

"_And_ Lord Voldemort." Daniel told him.

Hammond stared at them for a long time. And then he reached for the phone.

"Doctor Fraiser? I'd like-"

"We're not _crazy_," Jack interrupted, scowling. "It _happened_. We saw them, okay?"

Hammond hesitated, searching the face of his second in command. O'Neill looked annoyed, but he didn't look any crazier than he had Friday afternoon. Neither did Carter or Jackson. He sighed.

"Never mind, Doctor."

Hanging the phone up, Hammond looked at all three of them again, wondering if this was some kind of joke.

"Tell me what happened…"

He hadn't expected something like this, of course, but hey… that was what Mondays were for, right?

OOOOOOOO

"Think he believed us?"

Jack shrugged, looking over at Daniel.

"I wouldn't, if I were him. I still don't, really – and I was _there_."

They both knew he wasn't completely serious, of course. Nothing like having breakfast with a kid who doesn't exist to make one believe that, yeah, he might _really_ exist.

"At least he didn't call in the white coats," Sam said.

"True."

And he hadn't made that big of a deal out of Jack's previously unknown relationship to Voldemort – although Jack knew that Hammond was going to do some checking into his background, now, to make sure that what Jack himself had been told was really the truth. If nothing else, they might just compare blood types with Jack's parents. If he didn't match either of them, then that would tell them immediately that his parentage was in doubt – and would open the realm of possibility a bit more. But that wasn't going to happen that day… and Jack wasn't worried about it in any rate.

"I think he's too surprised to do anything right now," Daniel said. "Maybe when the shock wears off…"

"Then it'll just turn into disbelief," Jack said. "When _that_ wears off… well, we'll see."

They were quiet as they walked towards the elevator, and as they reached it, Teal'c emerged, looming impossibly large in the corridor – as always. In his hand he held a book, which he was looking at as he walked.

"What do you have there, Teal'c?" Daniel asked. "Another Harry Potter book?"

The Jaffa shook his head.

"I finished the series last night," Teal'c told them. "Until the next one is released, I am finished reading them."

"So what do you have there?" Sam asked.

"It is a book that Sergeant Silar has loaned me," Teal'c said, holding it up. "Perhaps you have heard of it? It is called _The Hobbit_."

Jack reached out and snatched the book from his hand – an impressive feat given the Jaffa's reflexes.

"Oh, no," he said scowling. "You're _not_ reading this."

He turned to head down the corridor, the book still clenched in his hand.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"To beat Silar over the head with this thing. The last thing I need is an adventure to Middle Earth!"

And given the way things had been going around the SGC lately, you just never knew, did you?

**The END**

_Author's Note:_

_Okay, so that's the end of my very first attempt at a crossover! Thanks for reading it, and I hope you liked it! Obviously, there is a very wide open ending, and once the next HP book comes out and I read it, we'll see if there's the possibility for me to write a sequel to this one – I won't rule it out, but I wanted to wait and see where the book goes. Let me kno what you thought, please!_


End file.
